“You see, madame, the position in which I stand as maire of this arrondissement. It is my bounden duty to preserve the district from the insidious and piratical designs of the English who infest our coast; destroying our ships even in our harbours; and the very men who commit these acts have been protected in this very château more than a month. What would be said of my conduct and vigilance if these facts were brought against me? On one condition I can release your son, allow his escape to England, and destroy the accusations against yourself; and, if you desire it, aid and ensure your own escape to England with your son.”
“And what, Monsieur Gramont,” said Madame Coulancourt, eagerly, her heart beating with anxiety for her children, “what do you require of me for such services?”
“Plainly, then, madame, the hand of your daughter, Mabel Arden.”
The astonished mother started from her chair with an agonised look; her lips pale with the agitation she experienced.
Before she could utter a word the door of the adjoining room opened, and Mabel Arden entered the saloon; her beautiful features calm and self-possessed, with her fine and graceful figure erect, she passed before the startled Monsieur Gramont, who instantly rose from his chair, making a confused salutation at the same time. The mother also looked at her daughter, for she was not aware that Mabel had been in the library.
“Monsieur Gramont,” said Mabel, looking him steadily and unflinchingly in the face, “I have heard every word of the artful and cowardly insinuations and threats with which you have assailed my beloved mother, creating a feeling of agony for the safety of her children, for the purpose of gaining your own ends.”
“Mademoiselle,” interrupted Bertram Gramont, his face flushed with suppressed rage, and excited by the look of scorn and detestation that Mabel made no effort to conceal, “you are severe and unjust. Admiration of your beauty——”
“Monsieur,” hastily interrupted Mabel, “let us end this scene, and take your answer from me. To save my mother or my brother’s life I would sacrifice my own at any time. But none of their lives are at all endangered, and your assertion of my brother’s arrest is false. But supposing all that you have said to be true, in answer to your proposal of uniting your destiny to mine, I now tell you, that sooner than do so I would cheerfully submit to lay my head beneath the axe.”
There were tears in the mother’s eyes as Mabel turned to her and threw her arms round her neck, and said—
“Dear mother, do not give way to fear or agitation; the same Providence that has hitherto protected and shielded us will not now desert us. We have braved greater dangers than this. The monsters that disgraced this ill-starred land no longer exist; we shall have justice, and whatever our doom may be, we shall still be together.”