Had not the Queen said—or rather revealed that Andrea loved him?
"And he is no more?" queried the lady, turning round after finishing her prayer.
"He died, madam, like Valence, and for the same cause, fulfilling the same duty."
"And in the great grief which you must have felt, you still thought of me?" asked Andrea in so weak a voice that her words were barely audible.
Luckily Charny was listening with the heart as well as ear.
"Did you not charge my brother with a message for me?" he inquired. "A letter to my address?"
She rose on one knee and looked with anxiety upon him.
"After poor Isidore's death, his papers were handed to me and among them was this letter."
"And you have read it—ah!" she cried, hiding her face in her hands.
"I ought to know the contents only if I were mortally wounded and you see I have returned safe. Consequently, as you see, it is intact, as you gave it to Isidore."