he saw the pallor on the face of her enemy.
Anxious to discover the meaning of Francine's abrupt departure, she
went to the window, where Madame du Gua followed her, no doubt to guard
against any suspicions which might arise in her mind. They returned
together to the chimney, after each had cast a look upon the shore
and the lake,--Marie without seeing anything that could have caused
Francine's flight, Madame du Gua seeing that which satisfied her she was
being obeyed.

The lake, at the edge of which Marche-a-Terre had shown his head, where
Madame du Gua had seen him, joined the moat in misty curves, sometimes
broad as ponds, in other places narrow as the artificial streamlets of
a park. The steep bank, washed by its waters, lay a few rods from the
window. Francine, watching on the surface of the water the black lines
thrown by the willows, noticed, carelessly at first, the uniform trend
of their branches, caused by a light breeze then prevailing. Suddenly
she thought she saw against the glassy surface a figure moving with the
spontaneous and irregular motion of life. The form, vague as it was,
seemed to her that of a man. At first she attributed what she saw to
the play of the moonlight upon the foliage, but presently a second head
appeared, then several others in the distance. The shrubs upon the bank
were bent and then violently straightened, and Francine saw the long
hedge undulating like one of those great Indian serpents of fabulous
size and shape. Here and there, among the gorse and taller brambles,
points of light could be seen to come and go. The girl's attention
redoubled, and she thought she recognized the foremost of the dusky
figures; indistinct as its outlines were, the beating of her heart
convinced her it was no other than her lover, Marche-a-Terre. Eager
to know if this mysterious approach meant treachery, she ran to the
courtyard. When she reached the middle of its grass plot she looked
alternately at the two wings of the building and along the steep shores,
without discovering, on the inhabited side of the house, any sign
of this silent approach. She listened attentively and heard a slight
rustling, like that which might be made by the footfalls of some wild
animal in the silence of the forest. She quivered, but did not tremble.
Though young and innocent, her anxious curiosity suggested a ruse. She
saw the coach and slipped into it, putting out her head to listen, with
the caution of a hare giving ear