"
Thereafter we travelled on in silence for some little while, my heart full
of joy at being so near to her, and the friendliness which she evinced for
me, and my mind casting o'er my joyous heart a cloud of some indefinable
evil presage.
"You are a brave man, M. de Luynes," she murmured presently, "and I have
been taught that brave men are ever honourable and true."
"Had they who taught you that known Gaston de Luynes, they would have told
you instead that it is possible for a vile man to have the one redeeming
virtue of courage, even as it is possible for a liar to have a countenance
that is sweet and innocent."
"There speaks that humble mood you are affecting, and which sits upon you
as my father's clothes might do. Nay, Monsieur, I shall believe in my
first teaching, and be deaf to yours."
Again there was a spell of silence. At last--"I have been thinking,
Monsieur," she said, "of that other occasion on which you rode with me. I
remember that you said you had killed a man, and when I asked you why, you
said that you had done it because he sought to kill you. Was that the
truth?"
"Assuredly, Mademoiselle.
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