to do it in any other way, have you perchance taken
your revenge by an attempt to destroy my future happiness by sowing
dissension and disunion between me and my wife?"

The commander solemnly assured him that he had had no hand in bringing
about the discovery.

'Then if it's not you, it must be a worthless being called Trumeau, who,
with the unerring instinct of jealousy, has run the truth to earth. But
he knows only half: I have never been either so much in love or so stupid
as to allow myself to be trapped. I have given you my promise to be
discreet and not to misuse my power, and as long as was compatible with
my own safety I have kept my word. But now you must see that I am bound
to defend myself, and to do that I shall be obliged to summon you as a
witness. So leave Paris tonight and seek out some safe retreat where no
one can find you, for to-morrow I shall speak. Of course if I am quit
for a woman's tears, if no more difficult task lies before me than to
soothe a weeping wife, you can return immediately; but if, as is too
probable, the blow has been struck by the hand of a rival furious at
having been defeated, the matter will not so easily be cut short; the arm
of the law will be invoked, and then I must get my head out of the noose
which some fingers I know of are itching to draw tight."

"You are quite right, sir," answered the commander; "I fear that my
influence at court is not strong enough to enable me to brave the matter
out. Well, my success has cost me dear, but it has cured me for ever of
seeking out similar adventures. My preparations will not take long, and
to-morrow's dawn will find me far from Paris."

Quennebert bowed and withdrew, returning home to console his Ariadne.

CHAPTER IX

The accusation hanging over the head of Maitre Quennebert was a very
serious one, threatening his life, if proved. But he was not uneasy; he
knew himself in possession of facts which would enable him to refute it
triumphantly.

The platonic love of Angelique de Guerchi for the handsome Chevalier de
Moranges had resulted, as we have seen, in no practical wrong to the Duc
de Vitry. After her reconciliation with her lover, brought about by the
eminently satisfactory explanations she was able to give of her conduct,
which we have already laid before our readers, she did not consider it
advisable to shut her heart to his pleadings much longer, and the
consequence was that at the end of a year she fou