He raised her hand to his lips as if it were the hand of a gentlewoman. Why he did so strange a thing he could not have explained.
“No, no,” she cried. “I am not worthy. Ah! Monseigneur is not as other nobles. He has pity and respect even for a peasant wench. He shall not dishonour himself, and I—I will help because I am grateful, yes, grateful.” For a moment she hid her face overcome.
“Adieu, Yvonne,” he murmured, almost tenderly. “Adieu, and remember!” He mounted and rode away. As he turned into the woods a man rapidly crossed the bridle track and disappeared, but not before he had caught a sight of his face. Somewhere in the past he had seen that face—when? Where? He knew he was not mistaken, though in vain he racked his brains. And with this fresh torturing thought he rode into Paris.
Yvonne had stood like one in a dream long after he had disappeared. Now she surveyed with ill-concealed disgust her pinned-up skirt and clumsy sabots, now impatiently brushed a tear from under the matted hair over her eyes. “Dieu le Vengeur!” She suddenly threw up her arms with a gesture of pain, “Dieu le Vengeur!” Then furtively glancing round she walked slowly towards the house. On the threshold some one met her and for a half-hour she might have been heard conversing earnestly, almost pleading. The voices ceased. A moment later the Chevalier de St. Amant stepped out from the inn, jauntily flung his gay cloak about him, and galloped swiftly in the direction of Versailles.
CHAPTER XVI
THE FOUNTAIN OF NEPTUNE
The autumn evening had already closed in on the noble gardens of Versailles. Alleys, parterres, and walks alike were deserted save by the Fountain of Neptune, where on a seat under the sombre shadows of the stately trees a woman, cloaked to her feet and hooded, sat patiently watching the ghostly glimmer of the statues in the dusk. She had not to wait long before a man cloaked also had quietly joined her.
“I am late, Mademoiselle,” he said, “but it is not my fault.”
“It does not matter, Chevalier,” Denise replied calmly, “the later the better for both of us.”
“No doubt. Ah, it is noble of you to come here alone, you who have so much to lose if——”
“We will not talk of that, please. I am here of my own free will and I would risk much more for the sake of the Queen, my mistress, and for France.”