"But, alas, alas! your plan has failed," replied Eugenie. "The fatal ring has been upon my finger."
"Fear not! fear not!" replied Beatrice, with a smile. "That ring binds you to nothing, Eugenie. Such a marriage is lawful in no land under the sun; and I took care that there should be plenty of witnesses to prove, hereafter, that your consent was refused to the last."
"I know," replied Eugenie, "I know that such a marriage cannot be legal; and I would sooner die than ever render it so. But still, Beatrice, still a ceremony has taken place; and though I will not be his wife, yet I can never, never feel myself free again!"
"Yes, yes, you can," replied Beatrice, with one of her gay smiles; "yes, you can be free as ever to give this fair hand to any one in the wide world you choose."
Eugenie shook her head; but Beatrice drew her arms closer around her, saying, "Well, well, you little infidel, if you will not believe me without farther proof, hear the secret of it all--but I dare not speak it aloud, lest the very spirits of the air should catch it, ere the poor man get back to the Huguenot camp; for they would burn him alive in the Place de Greve, if they caught him; and the two thousand pistoles which bribed him to the adventure would be but cold comfort in the midst of the flames;" and putting her lips close to Eugenie's ear, she whispered one or two words in a tone so low, that Mademoiselle de Menancourt herself might rather be said to divine their meaning than to hear them distinctly. That she understood them fully, however, was evident; for the light of joy instantly broke over her countenance; and clasping her hands together, while she raised her eyes towards heaven, she exclaimed, "Then I am saved indeed!"
At that moment, the door from the ante-room suddenly opened, and Beatrice started up from the position in which she had remained ever since her first entrance into the room, while Eugenie turned a terrified glance towards the door. It was only one of her women, however, who entered; and, contrary to her mistress's expectations, she evinced no surprise at the sight of Beatrice of Ferrara, disguised in the manner we have described.
"She knows it all, Eugenie," said Beatrice, "for it was by her means I obtained admission."
"I suppose, madam," said the waiting-woman, with a smile, "that I need scarcely tell you that Jean Baptiste has returned, with the news that Mademoiselle de Ferrara is still absent from home, and is not expected for many days."
"But why did you not tell me, Caroline," demanded Eugenie, "that she was here? It would have saved me many a miserable moment. If I had known that she was in this house, I should never have lost hope that all would go right."
"But it was impossible to tell you, lady," replied the waiting-woman; "for the Duchess de Montpensier sent us all away; and after she was gone, I could not say what I knew, because your other women were with you."