108 DEATH IN LIFE.
had not won him back, though she tried her sweetest arts; and since then life had seemed very dull and cold, " because she had lost her friend."
She was thinking of this in a pause of her conversation with Philip-thinking very sadly, and she was glad that the little sigh that stirred her bosom was not heard, because the marquis was just then speaking to his guest, and summoning a servant to conduct Saint Evremonde to his apartment.
A little silence followed the departure of Saint Evremonde, which was broken by the marquise, who had been gazing abstractedly from the window, watching the last gleams of rosy light fade from the clouds.
Monsieur," she asked , " will your cousin's stay with us be a long one?"
"A very long one, probably, madame, " answered the marquis, coldly. "Are you not pleased to have him here?"
"Of course, monsieur ; it is my duty to be pleased with whatever pleases you," was Vivienne's quiet answer.
"Your duty? Yes, madame ; but you have been known to fail in your duty," said the marquis, in a tone of suppressed anger. "Do you think I am blind, Madame la Marquise ?" he continued, in a lower, yet infinitely more terrible tone. "I know that you gave a cold and haughty greeting to my cousin; that you expected to see another in his place; that you asked eager questions about that other, and became suddenly gracious and smiling that you might hide the interest you feel in him. Yes, you dared speak of him in my presence of him, the traitor! And you, madame, can you deny that you love him , that——"
"Monsieur! You are speaking to your wife!" cried Vivienne, throwing off the hand he had laid, with an almost savage grasp, upon her white arm : She confronted him with proud, steady eyes, that did not fall before his, and with a brow as calm as his was wrathful and stormy.
"You are a good actress, madame, " he said, with a sneer. "I am speaking to one who dared forget that she was my wife. I watched you, madame, you and your lover, when you little dreamed that I did so. I saw your heart won from me by that fair-faced, treacherous boy; I was not deceived by your sudden pretended coldness and avoidance of each other. Madame, you need never hope to deceive me, or to escape my revenge."
"Monsieur - oh! my husband! You have deceived yourself, " she cried, with a sudden change of voice and expression. Her eyes filled with tears, and her white hands went out toward him with a tender, appealing gesture ; and in the fading light he saw her sweet face turned toward him with a look of supplication and sorrowful love.
"Monsieur- oh! believe me, I am innocent of all that you accuse me of. I have loved no one better than you; I have pretended nothing. Oh, my husband! love me again, I beseech you!"
"And be again deceived?" sneered the marquis. " No, madame. Leon Evremonde loved you , and loves you still. I am not duped now by your protestations, or your show of affection to me. Spare yourself all this trouble, and remember that my revenge will come. You cannot escape me. "
He was gone from the room, leaving her there, white and trembling, clinging to the stone frame of the window for support, and vainly trying to shut out from her mind the vision of that dark, threatening face, the sound of those low, terrible tones. "You cannot escape me!" The words sounded on and on , and in her ears like a death-bell.
How helpless, how wretched she was! What was the revenge he was preparing for her im agined crime ? Was there no help on earth or in heaven for the young girl trembling in the power of bad and unscrupulous men, and knowing no way of escape?
With flying steps she sought her mother's room, and as she gazed upon the face of her parent, who lay sleeping gently in the soft light of a swinging lamp, she vainly tried to persuade herself that this was a refuge for her. Alas ! she knew that if they were determined to destroy her, even here, in her mother's presence, they would plunge the knife in her flattering heart, and watch her life- blood ebbing away with cold and cruel eyes.
For this was in the old, old times, when such hideous crimes were committed, and went unpunished. The dark, old chateau had already witnessed many a deed as horrible as this-and there was no escape for her.
Sitting there beside her mother, with the lamp-light shining on her fair face and rich dress, with the Hautlicu rubies glowing on her bosom, her thoughts went back again to the palace gardens, to Leon, and to those sweet days of the past-"so sweet, so sad, the days that are no more." Through all her terror and despair there thrilled one thought which was strangely sweet, though meant to be the keenest stab her cruel husband had inflicted. Leon Evremonde loved you, and loves you still,” the
