Part 8 (1/2)
”This, Anne, is the officer who rendered you such invaluable service.”
”We meet almost as strangers, mademoiselle,” Desmond said, deeply bowing, ”for I own that I saw so little of your face, the other night, that I should hardly have recognized you, had I met you elsewhere.”
”I should certainly not have recognized you, Monsieur Kennedy.
What with my own fright, and, I may say, the condition of your face, I had but a faint idea of what you were really like; but I certainly did not think that you were so young. You had such a masterful way with you, and seemed to know so perfectly what ought to be done, that I took you to be much older than you now look.”
”I joined the regiment but little more than three months ago,”
Desmond said, ”and am its youngest ensign.”
”Monsieur, I owe to you more than my life, for, had it not been for you, I should have been forced into marriage with one whom I despise.”
”I cannot think that, mademoiselle. From what I saw of you, I should say that you would have resisted all threats, and even undergone hopeless imprisonment, rather than yield.”
”There is no saying, Monsieur Kennedy,” the baron said. ”Anne is of good blood, and I know that it would have been hard to break down her will, but confinement and hopelessness will tell on the bravest spirit. However that may be, she and I are your debtors for life.”
”Indeed, Monsieur Kennedy,” the girl said, ”I pray you to believe that I am more grateful to you than words can express.”
”I pray you to say no more about it, mademoiselle. I deem it a most fortunate circ.u.mstance, that I was able to come to your a.s.sistance, and especially so, when I found that the lady I had rescued was one whose disappearance had made so great a stir; but I should have been glad to render such service to one in the poorest condition.”
”My daughter said that you asked her no questions, Monsieur Kennedy, and you therefore are, I suppose, in ignorance of the name of her abductor?”
”Altogether.”
”It was the Vicomte de Tulle, one who stands very high in the regard of the king, and who is one of the most extravagant and dissipated, even of the courtiers here. For some time, it has been reported that he had nigh ruined himself by his lavish expenditure, and doubtless he thought to reestablish his finances by this bold stroke.
”His plans were well laid. He waited until I had gone to Paris on business that would keep me there for a day or two. A messenger arrived with a letter, purporting to be from me, saying that I wished my daughter to join me at once, and had sent a carriage to take her to me. Anne is young, and, suspecting no harm, at once threw on a mantle and hood, and entered the carriage. It was broad daylight, and there was nothing to disquiet her until, on approaching the town, the carriage turned off the main road. This struck her as strange, and she was just about to ask the question where she was being taken, when the carriage stopped in a lonely spot, the door was opened, and a man stepped in.
”Before she had even time to recognize him, he threw a thick cloak over her head. She struggled in vain to free herself, but he held her fast. Again and again, she tried to cry out, but her mouth was m.u.f.fled by the wrapping. She had heard the blinds of the carriage drawn, and finding that her struggles to free herself were vain, and receiving no answer to her supplications to be released, she remained quiet until the carriage stopped. Then she was lifted out, and carried into the house where you found her.
”The wrapping was removed, and the man who had taken it off, and, who by his attire, was a gentleman in the service of some n.o.ble, said, 'Do not be alarmed, mademoiselle. No harm is intended to you. My master is grieved to be obliged to adopt such means, but his pa.s.sion for you is so great that he was driven to this step, and it will entirely depend upon yourself when your captivity will end.'
”'Your master, whoever he may be,' Anne said, 'is a contemptible villain.'
”'Naturally, you have a poor opinion of him at present,' the fellow said; 'but I am convinced that, in time, you will come to excuse his fault. It is wholly due to the depth of the feeling that he entertains towards you. There is a woman here who will wait upon you. I and my men will not intrude. Our duty is solely to see that you do not escape, which indeed would be an impossibility for you, seeing that the wall that surrounds the garden is well-nigh fifteen feet high, and the gate barred and locked, and the key thereof in my pocket.'
”He called, and the old woman whom you brought here with Anne entered, and bid her ascend to the room that had been prepared for her.
”In that respect, she had nothing to complain of. Of course, you did not notice it, as you had other things to think of, but it was handsomely furnished. There was a bed in an alcove, some flowers on the table, some books, and even a harpsichord--evidently it was intended that her imprisonment should be made as light as might be.
”Looking from the window, Anne saw that the room was at the back of the house, and had probably been chosen because some trees shut the window off from view of anyone beyond the wall. The next day, the old woman announced the Vicomte de Tulle. He bowed profoundly, and began by excusing the step that he had taken, and crediting it solely to the pa.s.sion that he had conceived for her. You may imagine the scorn and reproaches with which she answered him. He was quite unmoved by her words.
”'Mademoiselle,' he said calmly, when she paused, 'you may be sure that I should not have undertaken this scheme, unless I had fully weighed the consequences. My plans have been so laid that whatever search may be made for you will be in vain. Here you are, and here you will remain until you listen to my suit. Every want shall be satisfied, and every wish complied with; but, whether it is one year or five, you will not leave this house until you leave it as my bride.'
”'Then, sir,' she said pa.s.sionately, 'I shall be a prisoner for life.'
”'So you may think, at present, mademoiselle,' he said. 'And I expected nothing else. But, with time and reflection, you may come to think otherwise. Union with me is not so terrible a matter. My rank you know, and standing high, as I do, in the favour of His Most Gracious Majesty, your position at court will be such as might gratify the daughter of the n.o.blest family in France. The study of my life will be to make you happy.
”'I shall now leave you to think over the matter. I shall not pester you with my attentions, and for another month you will not see me again. At the end of that time, I trust that you will have seen the futility of condemning yourself to further captivity, and will be disposed to make more allowance, than at present, for the step to which my pa.s.sion for yourself has driven me.'