," commanded the seigneur: "you are both of you ignorant
of the heinous nature of what you have done. Her guardian has the
power to punish you. Tremble lest he should exercise it." And, with
these words, he gave his arm to Amanda, and, passing amidst the
scowling trio, led her from the place.

CHAPTER XIV.

"Confess the truth."

_Measure for Measure._

"You would pluck out the heart of my mystery."

_Hamlet._

Claude Montigny rode to Stillyside and back, and was again with
the advocate within the hour. To conceive the terror and outcry in
that quiet dwelling, when its inmates ascertained that Amanda was
missing, let the reader recall the commotion in the castle of
Macbeth, when on the morning following his fatal entrance beneath
its battlements, it is discovered that the royal Duncan has been
murdered. As vehement and as wild as when the distracted Macduff,
in frantic tones and with wringing hands, declares to the assembling
sons and thanes of the ill-starred monarch, that, "confusion now
has made its masterpiece, most sacrilegeous murder has broken open
the Lord's anointed temple, and stolen hence the life o' the
building," was the outcry and disorder on the discovery of Amanda's
absence; and the wail and lamentation rung in Claude's ear as he
rode away from the gate to return to Montreal, where, still pacing
the library, the advocate anxiously awaited him. By the ratiocination,
as well as by the intuition, of the old man, the seigneur of
Mainville was reasonably to be suspected of being at least an
accessory to the stealing of Amanda. Claude, too, was not unvisited
by suspicions of his father's complicity; but thrust the dishonoring
doubts from him, as might a suffering saint dismiss hard thoughts
of the dealings of Providence towards himself. Each thought more
than he expressed to the other, but at length the advocate
communicated to Claude his injurious suspicions, acquainting him
with the fact and nature of his father's visits to his office; when
Claude, in turn, informed the advocate of the long cherished project
of an alliance between the houses of Duchatel and Montigny. This
information not only confirmed, but widened the field of the
advocate's fears. He was aware also of the lawless character of
Duchatel's sons; and recollected to have heard that the youngest
was a comrade of Narcisse, who, he likewise knew, entertained a
covert spite against Amanda, and, for his mother's sake, a ran