The hills are scarcely five hundred yards distant on
either side, rising in tamer colours from the green fields about
the brook. It is possible from the terrace to see the whole
valley, and the road which passes through it lengthwise.
Catherine's eyes were on the northern extremity of the defile,
where the highway from Cahors descends from the uplands. She had
been sitting with her face turned that way all the afternoon.
I looked that way too. A solitary horseman was descending the
steep track from the hills.
"Mademoiselle!" cried the Vidame suddenly. We all looked up.
His tone was such that the colour fled from Kit's face. There
was something in his voice she had never heard in any voice
before--something that to a woman was like a blow.
"Mademoiselle," he snarled, "is expecting news from Cahors, from
her lover. I have the honour to congratulate M. de Pavannes on
his conquest."
Ah! he had guessed it! As the words fell on the sleepy silence,
an insult in themselves, I sprang to my feet, amazed and angry,
yet astounded by his quickness of sight and wit.
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