off down the hill after Paul de Roustache.
"Ah," thought the Captain, as he gazed at the window, "if there were no such thing as honour or loyalty, as friendship – "
"Sir," said a timid voice at his elbow.
Dieppe shot round, and then and there lost his heart. One sight of her a man might endure and be heart-whole, not two. There, looking up at him with the most bewitching mouth, the most destructive eyes, was the lady whom he had seen at the end of the passage. Certainly she was the most irresistible creature he had ever met; so he declared to himself, not, indeed, for the first time in his life, but none the less with unimpeachable sincerity. For a man could do nothing but look at her, and the man who looked at her had to smile at her; then if she smiled, the man had to laugh; and what happened afterwards would depend on the inclinations of the lady: at least it would not be very safe to rely on the principles of the gentleman.
But now she was not laughing. Genuine and deep distress was visible on her face.
"Madame la Comtesse – " stammered the dazzled Captain.
For an instant she looked at him, seeming, he thought, to ask if she could trust him. Then she said impatiently: "Yes, yes; but never mind that. Who are you? Oh, why did you tell him you were the Count? Oh, you 've ruined everything!"
"Ruined – ?"
"Yes, yes; because now he 'll write to the Count. Oh, I heard your quarrel. I listened from the window. Oh, I did n't think anybody could be as stupid as you!"
"Madame!" pleaded the unhappy Captain. "I thought the fellow was a police-agent on my track, and – "
"On your track? Oh, who are you?"
"My name is Dieppe, madame – Captain Dieppe, at your service." It was small wonder that a little stiffness had crept into the Captain's tones. This was not, so far, just the sort of interview which had filled his dreams. For the first time the glimmer of a smile appeared on the lady's lips, the ghost of a sparkle in her eyes.
"What a funny name!" she observed reflectively.
"I fail to see the drollery of it."
"Oh, don't be silly and starchy. You 've got us into terrible trouble."
"You?"
"Yes; all of us. Because now – " She broke off abruptly. "How do you come to be here?" she asked in a rather imperious tone.
Dieppe gave a brief account of himself, concluding with the hope that his presence did not annoy the Countess. The lady shook her head and glanced at him with a curious air of inquiry or examination. In spite of the severity, or even rudeness, of her reproaches, Dieppe fell more and more in love with her every moment. At last he could not resist a sly reference to their previous encounter. She raised innocent eyes to his.
"I saw the door was open, but I did n't notice anybody there," she said with irreproachable demureness.
The Captain looked at her for a moment, then he began to laugh.
"I myself saw nothing but a cat," said he.
The lady began to laugh.
"You must let me atone for my stupidity," cried Dieppe, catching her hand.
"I wonder if you could!"
"I will, or die in the attempt. Tell me how!" And the Captain kissed the hand that he had captured.
"There are conditions."
"Not too hard?"
"First, you must n't breathe a word to the Count of having seen me or – or anybody else."
"I should n't have done that, anyhow," remarked Dieppe, with a sudden twinge of conscience.
"Secondly, you must never try to see me, except when I give you leave."
"I won't try, I will only long," said the Captain.
"Thirdly, you must ask no questions."
"It is too soon to ask the only one which I would n't pledge myself at your bidding never to ask."
"To whom," inquired the lady, "do you conceive yourself to be speaking, Captain Dieppe?" But the look that accompanied the rebuke was not very severe.
"Tell me what I must do," implored the Captain.
She looked at him very kindly, partly because he was a handsome fellow, partly because it was her way; and she said with the prettiest, simplest air, as though she were making the most ordinary request and never thought of a refusal:
"Will you give me fifty thousand francs?"
"I would give you a million thousand – but I have only fifty."
"It would be your all, then! Oh, I should n't like to – "
"You misunderstand me, madame. I have fifty francs, not fifty thousand."
"Oh!" said she, frowning. Then she laughed a little; then, to Dieppe's indescribable agony, her eyes filled with tears and her lips quivered. She put her hand up to her eyes; Dieppe heard a sob.
"For God's sake – " he whispered.
"Oh, I can't help it," she said, and she sobbed again; but now she did not try to hide her face. She looked up in the Captain's, conquering her sobs, but unable to restrain her tears. "It's not my fault, and it is so hard on me," she wailed. Then she suddenly jumped back, crying, "Oh, what were you going to do?" and regarding the Captain with reproachful alarm.
"I don't know," said Dieppe in some confusion, as he straightened himself again. "I could n't help it; you aroused my sympathy," he explained – for what the explanation might be worth.
"You won't be able to help me," she murmured, "unless – unless – "
"What?"
"Well, unless you 're able to help it, you know."
"I will think," promised Dieppe, "of my friend the Count."
"Of the – ? Oh yes, of course." There never was such a face for changes – she was smiling now. "Yes, think of your friend the Count, that will be capital. Oh, but we 're wasting time!"
"On the contrary, madame," the Captain assured her with overwhelming sincerity.
"Yes, we are. And we 're not safe here. Suppose the Count saw us!"
"Why, yes, that would be – "
"That would be fatal," said she decisively, and the Captain did not feel himself in a position to contradict her. He contented himself with taking her hand again and pressing it softly. Certainly she made a man feel very sympathetic.
"But I must see you again – "
"Indeed I trust so, madame."
"On business."
"Call it what you will, so that – "
"Not here. Do you know the village? No? Well, listen. If you go through the village, past the inn and up the hill, you will come to a Cross by the roadside. Strike off from that across the
