"Yes, if you have nothing further to tell me."
"Nothing further, monsieur." Saying these words, Baptiste withdrew.
"After Madeleine was missed," said Bertha, when the old gardener was gone, "I was the first person who came to the châlet. I found a handkerchief lying just by this table. It was marked G. de Bois."
"Gaston de Bois! Then it is clear he was Madeleine's confidant. He promoted her flight!"
"So I thought, at first," rejoined Bertha; "but it seems this is not so. Your father took him the handkerchief, and he could not tell when or where he had lost it. He was amazed to hear that Madeleine had left us, and disclaimed all knowledge concerning her."
"Who, then, could it have been? But I will see M. de Bois myself."
"First let me tell you"—began Bertha, and faltered.
"Why do you hesitate? For Heaven's sake, dear Bertha, tell me everything which can throw the faintest glimmer of light upon the path Madeleine has taken."
"I do not know how to say what I was thinking; perhaps I ought not to allude to it at all; yet it seems as if it must be true. Do you not remember that Madeleine confessed she had bestowed her affections upon some one? Since they were not given to you, as I once believed, I cannot help imagining that perhaps she might—might have meant"—
"Gaston de Bois?"