"For the child, you mean! How can you pretend to care for me—except that falsehood comes so easily to you? She helps you, I suppose, that treacherous woman, to make up these plots for keeping me in the dark?"
Armand stiffened. "Please do not speak of Madame de Vigerie like that! You have no right—none whatever, on my soul."
Horatia laughed. "It is your duty to champion her. Which of you invented the story about your visit to Rosdael last August?"
"Rosdael? I do not know what you mean," said Armand; but he looked uneasy.
"Is it possible that you have forgotten the interesting account you gave me of your visit to old M. des Charnières, and how he received you, that day when I thought I had seen you riding near St. Clair, and was fool enough to believe you when you said you had not done so? Whichever of you invented that tale to gull me with blundered badly, did they not, when they arranged for you a political interview with a man who had been dead for nearly a week? You had better take this to your accomplice when next you 'run the risk' of seeing her!"
The young man mechanically took the catalogue which she held out to him, no doubt inwardly cursing the antiquarian tastes of his brother, and there was silence for a moment while he looked frowningly at its date.
"You cannot, I imagine," pursued Horatia, "say anything to that. It was a pity that you did not know that he was dead; still, it was very unlikely that I should ever find out."
Armand lifted his head. "As a matter of fact," he said slowly, "I did know that M. des Charnières was dead. I will tell you exactly what happened. I started to ride to Rosdael, not knowing of his recent decease, when I had gone two or three miles I heard of it, and turned back. It was necessary, owing to this check to our plans, that I should see Madame de Vigerie at once. I told you the lie—for I admit that it was a lie ... you will misunderstand me, I know—but as a precaution."
"Precaution!" exclaimed Horatia. "Precaution against what?"
Armand made a gesture. "Ma chère, against the very attitude which you are now taking up. It seems it was not unneeded."