The mask was off in a moment. "Am I so changed, Edward?" said Lucette, throwing her arm round his neck. "I know I am taller,—much taller; but I did not think you would ever forget me."
"Forget you! Oh, no, no, Lucette!" cried Edward, circling her in his arms and covering her with kisses. "Have I ever forgotten you? have I ever ceased to think of you? But I saw you but for a moment across the dull and misty air of a theatre; and you are changed,—more charming, more beautiful than ever. But even Lucette unknown could not rob Lucette long known of the love that has been hers always. When for a moment I saw your face I did not hear your voice, and when I heard your voice I did not see your face. But now I see all these loved features distinctly, and wonder how I could be deceived."
"We shall both change still more, Edward," she said, almost sadly. "And will you love me still?"
"Better,—still better," said Edward, clasping her to his heart. "If, Lucette, I loved you still after long absence, when you yourself tried to make me love another, do you suppose that affection will wane when the change comes over us together and you yourself engage me to love you still? Oh, yes, Lucette; I will not deny it; you are more beautiful than you used to be; but it was my young Lucette I loved; and how could I love any other?"
"Well, I own that it was wrong," said Lucette, "to play with you and tease you as I did; but it was not to try you, for I was sure I knew your heart right well. It was the cardinal's command, however, and I feared to disobey him. He brought us all from Paris,—some for one reason, some for another: one that she might not intrigue against him at the court of the queen-mother; another, to remove her from poor Anne of Austria; others, for the amusement of the king and court, and perhaps to assist him in his own views. Why he brought me I know not,—perhaps to tease you on the road. No, no: I do him injustice. I sincerely believe it was to unite us in the end. But do you forgive me, Edward? Do you forgive me for acting a part that is not in my nature? A hundred times the mask was nearly taken from my face. My joy to find that you loved me still, and that you were faithful to your poor Lucette, passed all bounds, and made me almost faint with happiness. It is nearly eighteen months since I saw you at Aix; and since then how much I have suffered! And I have heard that you have suffered too,—that you have been apprehended and kept in prison, wounded again——"
"Oh, that is nothing!" answered Edward. "All has been followed by joy and success. I never valued wealth, Lucette, till I met with you; but now I have beyond doubt recovered one-half of my patrimonial property,—all that belongs to me; but enough, and more than enough, to secure my Lucette against all those grinding cares and petty annoyances which, though less sharp than the fierce blows of misfortune, are more wearing to the spirit and the heart. But tell me, my Lucette: how came you here? I had feared, from what they said at Venice, that you had fallen into the hands of Madame de Chevreuse."
"Oh, no," she answered: "that was a mistake. The council notified Madame de la Cour that I was demanded by those who had a right to demand me in France; but, with their usual secrecy, gave no further information. At first I resolved to fly; but whither could I go? To Madame de Rohan I could not apply; for her life in Venice has been one of great scandal and disgrace. Madame de la Cour could not or would not help me. But in the end I found that it was the ambassador from France who claimed me; and, when assured that I was to be under the guardianship of the cardinal himself, I went joyfully. He forbade me to write to you, saying you promised soon to rejoin him; and on the night I saw you at the theatre he told me to look at his loge, but to take no notice whatever I might see. The only thing I now fear is the opposition of my high relations. The Duc de Rohan is the head of the house; and, though he was kind to me—very kind—while I was with him, I know him to be the proudest man on earth, and as obdurate in his determinations as a rock."
"You are my wife," said Edward, pressing her to his heart,—"my wife by every tie, human and divine. Soubise may oppose, Madame de Chevreuse may oppose; but their opposition is nothing. Look here what authority the cardinal gave me when I was setting out for Venice." Lucette looked at the paper which he gave her.
"It was unkind of him to let you go," she said, "when he knew that I was within two days' journey of Suza; but that was to punish you for leaving that little Morini on the road."
"Do you know why I left him?" said Edward, kissing her rosy lips. "It was because a very beautiful lady said she would make me love her before our journey was ended; and I was resolved to love nobody but Lucette. No, my Lucette: our journey together has never ended, and through life never must end. You are mine, as I have said, by every tie. The Duc de Rohan, the only one who had any real authority, I saw last night. His opposition was entirely withdrawn, and his formal approval of our marriage at Nantes was given in writing."