"Explain!" said the duke, "I do not understand you."
"Ah! monsieur," said Helene, trembling, "it is strange how your voice resembles that of another person."
"Of your acquaintance?" asked the regent.
"Of a person in whose presence I have been but once, but whose accents live in my heart."
"And who was this person?" asked the regent, while Dubois shrugged his shoulders at this half recognition.
"He called himself my father," replied Helene.
"I congratulate myself upon this chance, mademoiselle," said the regent, "for this similarity in my voice to that of a person who is dear to you may give greater weight to my words. You know that Monsieur de Chanlay has chosen me for your protector?"
"He told me he would bring me to some one who would protect me from the danger—"
"What danger?" asked the regent.
Helene looked round her, and her glance rested uneasily on Dubois, and there was no mistaking her expression. Dubois's face inspired her with as much distrust as the regent's did with confidence.