"
"Ah, my poor angel! You suffer! It is criminal! We dare not
start. But believe me, Madame, even so, it is not all misfortune.
Suppose we remain; suppose Monsieur Dunwodee comes back? You
suffer. He has pity. Pity is then your friend. In that itself
are you most strong. Content yourself to be weak and helpless for
a time. Not even that brute, that assassin, that criminal, dare
offend you now, Madame. But--of course he is impossible for one
like madame; yet I have delight to hear even a brute, an assassin,
make such love! _Ah, mon Dieu_!"
Jeanne pursed a lip impartially. "_Mon Dieu_! And he was
_repressed_, by reason of my presence. He was restrained, none the
less, by this raiment here of another, so mysterious. Ah, if he--"
"_Tais-toi donc_, Jeanne!" exclaimed her mistress. "No more! We
shall stay until to-morrow, at least."
And so the day passed. The sleepy life of the old plantation went
on about them in silence. As a wild animal pursued, oppressed, but
for the time left alone in some hiding-place, gains greater courage
with each moment of freedom from pursuit, so Josephine St.
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