t she was playing a role with
him, shot across his mind for the first time; with this suspicion came
jealousy, and, releasing her waist, he said, in a gasping tone:

"You have another lover, Louise, a lover you prefer to me--am I not
right?"

Mlle. d'Armilly laughed a short, nervous laugh, and answered in a voice
that seemed to mock him:

"I have had hosts of ardent admirers in my time. Do you refer
particularly to any individual?"

"I know not; I am beside myself with passion for you, and the mere fancy
that another man may have the first place in your heart is unbearable to
me! But there is one conclusive way in which you can prove my
suspicion--my jealousy--groundless; marry me!"

"Albert," replied Louise, with a renewal of the singular expression of
countenance that had so agitated him, "I shall never marry any one; I
cannot--I dare not!"

The young man was startled as if by an electric shock; he drew back and
gazed at her with wide-opened eyes, speechless from astonishment.

After a brief pause, Mlle. d'Armilly continued, in a dry, hard tone:

"You do not understand me and I cannot expect you to, for I can neither
tell you my motives nor lay bare my sad history to you; you must be
content with my decision--I shall not marry!"

Captain Joliette, strong man as he was, could not control his emotion;
he buried his face in his hands and groaned aloud. The young woman gazed
at him half pityingly, half triumphantly; she felt compassion for her
stricken lover, but, above all, gloried in the overwhelming power of her
charms that could so subdue a manly, victorious young soldier and make
him her helpless slave.

"Is there then no shadow of a hope?" at length asked Joliette, in a
hoarse whisper.

"Not the shadow of a hope!" replied Mlle. d'Armilly, firmly. "You can be
my friend, my brother, if you will, but never my husband."

The young man recoiled in horror at the suggestion that seemed to be
conveyed by this permission.

"What do you mean by friend?" he asked, a cold shiver passing through
him.

Louise laughed a short, nervous laugh, and, looking him full in the
eyes, replied:

"You know what I mean. I love you better than any man I ever met, save
one."

Captain Joliette slowly arose to his feet and stood staring at her, his
passion and his scruples waging a bitter battle within him for the
mastery. The temptress half reclined on the sofa, a miracle of seductive
grace and voluptuous beauty. He moved t