Part 35 (1/2)

'Is he better? Can I not see the Sister Constance,' asked she, in a low and liquid voice.

'He is no better; I believe he is far worse than yesterday. There was a young man here this moment who saw him, and whose interview, by the way, gave rise to grave speculation. There he is yonder--a strange-looking figure to call himself the friend of Gabriel Riquetti.'

'Who or what is he?' asked she eagerly.

'It is what none of us know, though, indeed, at the moment you came up, we had some thoughts of compelling him to declare. Need I tell you that there is grave suspicion of foul play here; many are minded to believe that Mirabeau has been poisoned. See how that fellow continues to stare at you, Gabrielle. Do you know him?'

Step by step, slowly, but with eyes riveted upon the object before him, Gerald had now approached the carriage, and stood within a few yards of it, his eyeb.a.l.l.s staring wildly, his lips apart, and every line of his face betraying the most intense astonishment. Nor was Gabrielle less moved: with her head protruded beyond the carriage-window, and her hair pushed suddenly back by some pa.s.sing impulse, she gazed wildly at the stranger.

'_Gherardi, Gherardi mio!_' cried she at last. 'Speak, and tell me if it be you.'

'Marietta, oh, Marietta!' said he, with a sigh, whose heartfelt cadence seemed eloquent in sorrow.

'Come with me. Come home with me, and you shall hear all, said she, in Italian, answering as it were the accents of his words.

The young man shook his head mournfully in reply, but never spoke.

'I tell you,' cried she, more pa.s.sionately, 'that you shall hear all. It is more than I have said to a confessor. Come, come,' and she flung open the door as she spoke.

'If you but knew how I have longed to see you, Marietta!' whispered he, in broken accents; 'but not thus, oh, not thus!'

'How, then, do you dare to judge me?' cried she, with flas.h.i.+ng eyes; 'how presume to scoff at _my_ affluence, while _I_ have not dared to reflect upon _your_ poverty? Once, and for the last time, I say, come with me!'

Without another word he sprang to her side, the door was closed, and the carriage drove rapidly away, ere the staring crowd could express their amazement at what they had witnessed.

CHAPTER III. 'LA GABRIELLE'

By one of those inconsistencies which sway the popular mind in times of trouble, the gorgeous splendour and wasteful extravagance which were not permitted to an ancient n.o.bility were willingly conceded to those who now ministered to public amus.e.m.e.nt, and the costly magnificence which aided the downfall of a monarchy was deemed pardonable in one whose early years had been pa.s.sed in misery and in want.

It was in the ancient hotel of the Duc de Noailles that Gabrielle was lodged, and all the splendour of that princely residence remained as in the time of its former owners; even to the portraits of the haughty ancestry upon the walls, and the proud emblazonry of armorial bearings over doors and chimneys, nothing was changed; the embroidered crests upon chairs and tablecovers, the gilded coronets that ornamented every architrave and cornice, stood forth in testimony of those in whose honour those insignia were fas.h.i.+oned.

Preceding Gerald, and walking at a rapid pace, Gabrielle pa.s.sed through several splendid rooms, till she came to one whose walls, hung in purple velvet with a deep gold fringe, had an air of almost sombre magnificence, the furniture being all of the same grave tint, and even the solitary lamp which lighted the apartment having a gla.s.s shade of a deep purple colour.

'This is my chamber of study, Gherardi,' said she, as they entered.

'None ever come to disturb me when here. Here, therefore, we are alone to question and to reply to each other--to render account of the past and speculate on the future--and, first of all, tell me, am I changed?'

As she spoke she tossed aside her bonnet, and loosening her long hair from its bands, suffered it to fall upon her neck and shoulders in the wild ma.s.ses it a.s.sumed in girlhood. She crossed her arms, too, upon her breast in imitation of a gesture familiar to her, and stood motionless before him.

Long and steadfastly did Gerald continue to stare at her.. It was like the look of one who would read if he might every trait and lineament before him, and satisfy his mind what characters had time written upon a nature he had once known so well.

'You do not answer me,' said she at last; 'am I then changed?'

A faint low sigh escaped him, but he uttered no word.

'Be frank with me as a brother ought; tell me wherein is this change?

You thought me handsome once; am I less so?'

'Oh! no, no! not that, not that!' cried he pa.s.sionately; 'you are more beautiful than ever.'

'Is there in my expression aught that gives you grief? has the world written boldness upon my brow? or do you fancy that you can trace the cost of all the splendour around us in some faint lines of shame and sorrow? Speak, sir, and be honest with me.'