He
purchased a small but convenient house, surrounded by a garden, in
the neighborhood of the Luxembourg Palace, and here he installed
me, with two old women and a trusty man-servant. As I needed a
chaperon, he went in quest of one, and found Madame Leon."
On hearing this name, the magistrate gave the young girl a
searching look, as if he hoped to discover what estimate she had
formed of the housekeeper's character, as well as what degree of
confidence she had granted her. But Mademoiselle Marguerite's
face remained unaltered in expression.
"After so many trials," she resumed, "I thought I should now find
rest and peace. Yes, I believed so; and the few months I spent in
that quiet house will be the happiest of my life--I am sure of it.
Judge of my surprise when, on going down into the little garden on
the second day after my arrival, I saw the young man whom I had
met at Cannes, and whose face had lingered in my memory for more
than two years as the type of all that was best and noblest in the
human countenance. He was standing near the gate. A cloud passed
before my eyes. What mysterious freak of fate had caused him to
pause there at that particular moment? This much is certain, he
recognized me as I had recognized him. He bowed, smiling
somewhat, and I fled indoors again, indignant with myself for not
being angry at his audacity. I made many plans that day, but the
next morning, at the same hour, I hid myself behind a Venetian
blind, and saw him pause at the gate, and gaze at the garden with
evident anxiety.
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