you give me back my daughter?"

Lagardere made her a bow. "In a few moments she will be in your arms."

At this moment Gonzague rose and interrupted. "Sire," he said, "I can
tell you something of this man."

Lagardere glanced scornfully at Gonzague. "Sire," he said, "I can tell
you something of this man." He advanced towards Gonzague and addressed
him in a low tone: "On that September night I told you that if you did
not come to Lagardere, Lagardere would come to you. You did not come. I
am here." Then he turned to the princess. "Madame, here, as in the moat
of Caylus Castle; here, as by the picture in your palace, I am wholly in
your service."

Gonzague turned to the king with an appealing gesture. "I implore your
majesty to let no one leave this place. If Monsieur de Lagardere is
desirous of darkness and mystery, I ask only for light and truth."

The king spoke, decisively: "If the attack has been secret, the
justification shall be public."

Gonzague addressed Lagardere: "Where is the woman who calls herself the
daughter of Louis de Nevers?"

The king also questioned: "Why is she not with you?"

Lagardere answered, composedly: "Mademoiselle de Nevers will be here at
midnight, and will herself present to your Royal Highness the papers that
prove her birth."

"What papers?" asked the king.

And Lagardere answered: "The pages torn from the parish register by her
mother, and confided to me in the moat of Caylus Castle."

The princess leaned forward. "What do you say?" she asked, eagerly, and
the king echoed her question.

Lagardere replied: "The princess gave those papers to me when she placed
her child in my arms, believing that I was her husband, Louis de
Nevers."

Gonzague questioned, with a sneer: "Why should she think you were her
husband?"

Lagardere looked him full in the face. "Because, thanks to you, I gave
the signal agreed upon--her husband's motto, 'I am here.'"

The princess clasped her hands. "My God, sire, it is true."

"And these papers are in your hands?" the king asked.

Lagardere answered, quietly: "They are in the hands of Mademoiselle de
Nevers."

Gonzague looked triumphantly from Lagardere to the king. "Then why is
this pretended Mademoiselle de Nevers not here?"

Lagardere replied, composedly: "She is to be here at midnight."

Gonzague looked at his watch. "It is midnight now--she is not here. Your
majesty sees the worth of this man's word."

Louis gazed curiously at Laga