The Chevalier De Maison Rouge Read Online Free Page B

residence.
    " That is all that is required from you," said the officer ; "bnt the citoyenne, who is she ?"
    "The sister of my wife."
    The officer permitted them to pass.
    "Yon are, then, married, monsieur ?" murmured the unknown.
    " Xo, madame ; why do you think so ? "
    "Then," said she, laughing, "you had better have said I was your wife."
    " Madame," said Maurice, " the name of wife is rather too sacred to be slightly bestowed. I have not the honor
    of your acquaintance."
    The unknown, in her turn, felt an impression of the
    heart, and remained silent and confused. At this
    moment they crossed the bridge Marie. The young
    woman quickened her pace as they approached the end
    of their journey. They crossed the bridge De la Tour-
    ville.
    " We are now, I believe, in your quarter," said Maurice, planting his foot on the quay St. Bernard.
    "Yes, citizen/' replied the young woman ; "but it is precisely here I most require your assistance."
    "Really, madame," said Maurice, "you forbid me to be indiscreet, yet you do all in your power to excite my
    curiosity. This is not generous. Grant me your confi-
    dence. I have merited it, I think. Are you not in honor
    bound to tell me to whom I speak ? "
    " You speak, monsieur," said the unknown, smiling, THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE. 21
    " to a woman whom you have saved from the greatest
    danger she could encounter, to one who owes you a debt
    of everlasting gratitude."
    " I do not require so much, madame ; be less grateful, and pending the second, tell me your name."
    " Impossible ! "
    "You might have told it, nevertheless, to the first
    sectionary, if you had been taken to the post."
    " No, never ! " said the unknown.
    " But, in that case, you would have gone to prison."
    "I had considered all that."
    "And prison at this moment "
    " Leads to the scaffold ; I know it all."
    " And you would have preferred the scaffold ? "
    "To treason to discover my name was treason ; it is
    treason to betray others."
    " I said truly you compelled me to act a singular part for a Republican."
    " You act the part of a truly generous man. You en-
    counter a poor woman subjected to insult ; you do not
    condemn her because she might be ' one of the people/
    but that she may be exempted from fresh annoyances, to
    save her from shipwreck, you reconduct her to the miser-
    able quarter she inhabits."
    " As far as appearances go, you argue correctly, and I might have credited you, had I never either seen or heard
    you speak ; but your beauty and mode of expression
    stamp you as a woman of distinction, and it is just this
    distinction, in opposition with your costume and this
    miserable quarter, which proves to me that your absence
    from home at this unseasonable hour conceals some mys-
    tery. You are silent we will speak no more. Are we
    far from your house, madame ? "
    At this moment they entered La Rue des Fosses St.
    Victor by la Rue do Seine.
    " You see that small, dark building, "said the unknown to Maurice, extending her hand, and pointing towards a
    house situated beyond the walls of the Jardin des Plantes.
    " When we arrive there you must quit me."
    22 THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE.
    " Very well, nuulame ; issue your orders ; I am here
    only to obey."
    " You are angry.
    " I ! angry ? Not the least in the world ; besides, what does it matter to you ? "
    " It matters much, since I have yet a favor to ask of
    you."
    " What is that .
    " A kind and frank adieu the farewell of a friend."
    " The farewell of a friend ! Oh, madame, you do me
    too great an honor. A singular friend, not to know the
    name of his friend, who even conceals from him where
    she resides, no doubt from the fear of being too much
    troubled with his company."
    The young woman hung down her head, but did not
    reply to this saracasm.
    "As to the rest, madame," continued Maurice, "if I have discovered a secret, I did so involuntarily ; and without any effort on my part to do so."
    " I have now reached my destination, monsieur," said the