He closed the door behind him, but he did not advance into the room. "At your pleasure, Mademoiselle?" he said simply. "You sent for me, I think."
She was on her feet, standing before him with something of the submissiveness of Roxana before her conqueror. "I did," she said; and stopped at that, her hand to her side as if she could not continue. But presently in a low voice, "I have heard," she went on, "what you said, Monsieur, after I lost consciousness."
"Yes?" he said; and was silent. Nor did he lose his watchful look.
"I am obliged to you for your thought of me," she continued in a faint voice, "and I shall be still further obliged--I speak to you thus quickly and thus early--if you will grant me a somewhat longer time."
"Do you mean--if I will postpone our marriage?"
"Yes, Monsieur."
"It is impossible!"
"Do not say that," she cried, raising her voice impulsively. "I appeal to your generosity. And for a short, a very short, time only."
"It is impossible," he answered quietly. "And for reasons, Mademoiselle. In the first place I can more easily protect my wife. In the second, I am even now summoned to the Louvre, and should be on my way thither. By to-morrow evening, unless I am mistaken in the business on which I am required, I shall be on my way to a distant province with royal letters. It is essential that our marriage take place before I go."
"Why?" she asked stubbornly.