My motives would most certainly
be misapprehended. You forget that this young man has acquired in
the past week a certain reputation that might well make a man
hesitate to meet him."
She brushed that aside almost contemptuously, conceiving it the
merest quibble.
"Some men, yes. But not you, M. le Marquis."
Her confidence in him on every count was most sweetly flattering.
But there was a bitterness behind the sweet.
"Even I, mademoiselle, let me assure you. And there is more than
that. This quarrel which M. Moreau has forced upon me is no new
thing. It is merely the culmination of a long-drawn persecution.
"Which you invited," she cut in. "Be just, monsieur."
"I hope that it is not in my nature to be otherwise, mademoiselle."
"Consider, then, that you killed his friend."
"I find in that nothing with which to reproach myself. My
justification lay in the circumstances - the subsequent events in
this distracted country surely confirm it."
"And... " She faltered a little, and looked away from him for the
first time.
Pages:
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551