“I am with him, my child,” replied the commissary. “I come to beg your pardon for having so badly protected you.”
She shook her head with a sad and gentle motion.
“It was myself who lacked prudence,” she said; “for to-day, while out, I thought I noticed something wrong; but it looked so foolish to be afraid! If it had not happened to-day, it would have happened some other day. The villains who have been pursuing me for years must be satisfied now. They will soon be rid of me.”
“Lucienne,” said Maxence in a sorrowful tone.
M. de Tregars now stepped forward.
“You shall live, mademoiselle,” he uttered in a grave voice. “You shall live to learn to love life.”
And, as she was looking at him in surprise,
“You do not know me,” he added.
Timidly, and as if doubting the reality,
“You,” she said, “the Marquis de Tregars!”