cannot bear----"

"We have to bear a great many things that we do not wish to in this
life. You owe me some consideration. I still retain my faith and
confidence in you. I have not pressed you to the wall with hard
questions about last night."

"I know, I know, but----"

"And, as the head of the house, I must have even from the children the
obedience which is my due."

"I do not wish to fail in my duty toward you, monsieur, but----"

"And your word, the word of a d'Aumenier, has been plighted. You
entered into this engagement of your own free will. There was no
constraint."

"But there was pressure."

"Yes, certainly, I know what is best for you, but you were not forced
in any way, and your troth, having been plighted, your word given"--the
old man stopped, looked at her solemnly, his long fingers tapping
lightly on the table--"it must be kept," he said, with that air of
absolute finality which none could assume better than he.

"It shall be, although it kills me."

"If I live I shall see that it is; and if I die I have your promise?"

"You have."

"That is well. You will live to thank me and bless me. I have
fancied, of late, that your heart had been allowed to decline a little
to this Marteau. Oh, he is a brave man and true, I know. I take no
stock in his confession of theft or assault upon you. Why, I would
have cut him down where he stood, or have him kill me if I believed
that! But he is of another race, another blood. The Eagle does not
stoop to the barnyard fowl. The heart of a woman is a strange thing.
It leads her in strange ways if she follows its impulses. Thank God
there are men who can and will direct and control those impulses. Put
him out of your mind. It is best. To-morrow he will be a dead man.
At any rate, I am rather glad of that," said the Marquis, half
reflectively, knowing what trouble he might have made if he were to be
allowed to live on. It was cold-blooded, but he could sacrifice
Marteau for his niece's happiness, and find abundant justification in
the annals of his house, where he could read of many Marteaux who had
been sacrificed or had sacrificed themselves for the d'Aumeniers.

"I--I will promise," faltered the girl, "but on one condition."

"I like it not when youth makes conditions with age. Nevertheless,
what is in your mind?"

"I want to see Marteau again."

"Impossible!"

"Wait," said the woman quickly. "Is it not true, have I not heard that