"I cannot stay. I only wanted to see you, to snatch one moment of bliss. I must go."
"Go?" Hertha repeated, clinging to him, half dazed with sudden joy and dread. "Now, in this first moment of reunion? You cannot."
"I must," he insisted. "Perhaps we may see each other again the day after to-morrow."
"Only perhaps! And if we do not? Can you not spare me a moment for farewell?"
"My darling, you cannot dream what it costs me to leave you now; but duty claims me. I must obey."
Duty! Hertha had heard the word often enough from the general's lips, and she comprehended its significance. Her eyes filled with tears, but she made no further effort to detain her lover. Once more he pressed his lips to hers.
"Farewell! One thing more,--Raoul is here. Possibly he may attempt to see you if he should hear of your presence in the house. Promise me neither to see him nor to speak with him."
A contemptuous expression flitted across the young girl's face. "Her presence would forbid on his part any such attempt as you fear."
"Whose presence? Whom do you mean?" asked Michael, with intense eagerness.
"Héloïse von Nérac!"