"Let us talk no longer, then!"

"Hola! Joseph! attend us with the light!"

The valet drew near with his lantern and leaned against a pillar. The two gentlemen had already tossed aside their cloaks; they speedily unsheathed their swords, and, taking their places within two yards of the light, began to attack each other with great impetuosity. Leodgard was stirred to frenzy by his anger at having been made a plaything by Valentine; in the case of the marquis, the desire to be revenged upon a man who had attempted to dishonor him was sufficient to strengthen his arm and inflame his blood.

The marquis, however, was more self-controlled; he fought more prudently than his adversary. Leodgard, enraged to find himself opposed by a man whose skill equalled his own, hurried his blows as if he were in haste to conclude; and as he lunged to deal a terrible thrust at the marquis, the latter's sword entered his breast and pa.s.sed through his body.

Leodgard fell to the ground without a cry. The valet held his lantern so that he could see the wound, from which the blood poured forth in a stream, and said to his master, who tranquilly wiped his sword and resumed his cloak:

"Oh! monsieur, I do not think that the gentleman will recover. Such a wound! and fair in the breast! That was a mighty thrust he received!--What shall we do with the gentleman?"

"Blockhead! to suppose that I intend to pay any heed to the fellow!--We have nothing more to do here. Go before and light me!"

XLVII

THE WOUNDED MAN

Let us return now to Bathilde, the sweet and charming countess, the loving mother, whom events have compelled us to neglect for some time, but whom it would be impossible to forget; for sweetness of disposition, when combined with beauty, is a talisman which never loses its power.

When Ambroisine, on returning from Place Royale, where she had seen Leodgard embrace his daughter, entered Bathilde's room with the child, her friend divined from her radiant face that some fortunate event had occurred; and rising from the reclining chair on which she was stretched, she held out her arms to Blanche and cried:

"What has happened? What brings you back so soon?--Ambroisine, I see in your eyes that you are happy. May I not share your happiness?"

"Oh! yes, indeed! Our reason for returning so soon was that you might enjoy it the sooner. But first of all take your child on your knees, and kiss her; the dear little angel--it is she who is the cause--it is she who---- Mon Dieu! I am so glad--so glad, that I can't speak--it suffocates me!"

Bathilde took the child on her knees; Blanche put her little arms about her mother's neck and returned her kisses, lisping:

"The gentleman--he kiss Blanche again; he said--I am pretty!"

"What does she say?" asked Bathilde, looking from Ambroisine to the nurse.

"She says," replied Ambroisine,--"what she says is true; yesterday there was a fine gentleman on the square; he saw Blanche playing; he thought her so pretty that he kissed her, and then he asked Marie the dear child's name, and then her mother's; and when she told him, he kissed Blanche once more; and that same gentleman came to-day again and sat on the same bench; and I am perfectly sure that it was to see Blanche again!"

"When mademoiselle saw him this morning," said the nurse, "she recognized him at once, and began to run toward him."

"But this gentleman--who was he, pray?" asked Bathilde, in a trembling voice.

"Do you not guess, Bathilde, do you not guess?"

"O mon Dieu! tell me!"

"He was the Comte de Marvejols--your husband."

"He! Is it possible?"

Bathilde turned pale; for a moment she was overcome; but joy rarely does any harm, and the young mother covered her daughter with kisses once more, crying:

"He kissed you, little darling, he kissed you! Why, that gentleman was your father--your father for whom I have taught you to pray to G.o.d every night, to preserve his life and bring him back to us. Ah! G.o.d has heard your prayers.--Now, Marie, Ambroisine, tell me all that happened, all, both yesterday and to-day. Do not forget anything, do not omit the most trivial detail; I shall be so happy listening to you."

The maid described minutely the meeting of the preceding day.

"And you told me nothing of this yesterday, Marie!"

"Bless me! I could not imagine that it would interest you so deeply! I was so far from suspecting that that handsome gentleman was monsieur le comte; and if I must mention everybody who admires mademoiselle when I take her out to walk, and everybody who exclaims at her beauty and caresses her, I should never stop!"

"Well--and to-day, Marie!"

The nurse told what had happened previous to the arrival of Ambroisine, who completed the story from that point.

"And he went away like that--hurriedly?" said Bathilde.

"Mon Dieu! yes; I am very sorry that I showed myself; but when I saw him holding his daughter in his arms, could I be expected to control my surprise?"

"He held her in his arms?"

"To be sure."

"And he kissed her?"

"Oh! several times."

"And you are sure, Marie, that he knew that Blanche was the daughter of the Comtesse de Marvejols?"

"Pardine! I told the gentleman so yesterday, madame; and it was he himself who asked me the question."

"He knew that she was his daughter, Ambroisine, and he took her in his arms, and put his lips to her forehead! Oh! I cannot believe yet in such good fortune! Why, in that case, he must love darling Blanche!"

"Does that surprise you? Is it possible to see the child without loving her? Moreover, as he came again to-day and sat in the same place as yesterday, don't you see that it must have been a desire to see his daughter that brought him there again?"

"Oh! if that were true, if it were possible! But if he wishes to see his daughter, does he not know that the doors of this house will fly open before him any day, at any hour? And if it is my presence that offends him, if it is I whom he does not wish to meet, why, I will be careful to avoid his glances, I will conceal myself in the most distant part of the house, and I will stay hidden there so long as he remains. But let him come to see his daughter! let him lavish his caresses on her without fear. I shall be only too happy, and I will not complain."

"Of course, monsieur le comte did not know at first," said Ambroisine, "when Blanche attracted his attention, that it was his own daughter whom he was praising; when he learned that fact, he could not help being proud of her; and then the same feeling brought him back to the spot where he knew that she ordinarily came to run about and play. But it is a long way from that to coming to this house."

"Oh! no matter; to-morrow Blanche will go out with her nurse at the same time; my daughter will go for her walk in the same direction, to the same benches as to-day; perhaps he will come again to see her; and I will go there with you, Ambroisine. I am strong enough to go out; at all events, you will lend me your arm, and we will keep out of sight, a long way off; but not so far that we cannot see whether the darling girl's father caresses her again."

Everything was done the next day as Bathilde had planned. Blanche went out with her nurse as the clock struck twelve; some distance behind, two women walked arm in arm, following with their eyes every step, every movement of the child.

But the bench on which they had found Leodgard two days in succession was unoccupied; and more than once the little girl, after running in that direction, returned to her nurse and said in her childish lisp, and in an almost mournful tone:

"The gentleman not there, nurse; where is the gentleman?"

For Blanche had already come to look upon it as a pleasant custom to be kissed and caressed by Leodgard. Children learn to love very quickly! A person attracts them instantly or never; as they have not become reasoning persons, they follow their first impulse.

That day had not the result for which they hoped. Leodgard did not appear at the bench, or in any other part of Place Royale, where Bathilde's and Ambroisine's eyes would not have failed to discover him.