yet he could not forget that, by the wish of the young lady's friends,
if not by her own, he had once been her affianced husband. As for the
death of the courtier, it was not in itself a subject for much regret;
and, further, it had been wholly the consequence of the dead man's own
actions, from his deceit towards the ladies to his final ferocity and
foul play in an encounter of his own provoking.

While Alain Le Gallais thus sought comfort by the road of reason and of
conscience, his heart continued very sore. But on the morrow of his
commitment an event occurred which changed his cheer, and made his
prison for an instant more lovely than a palace. All the Jerseymen were
acquainted with each other, and the prison warder, though fully meaning
to keep his captive, did not by any means understand his duty to extend
to making such detention a punishment to a man whom he liked, and who
had not yet been condemned. So when Mme. de Maufant and her sister
presented themselves at the gate, seeking admission to Alain's cell, the
worthy jailor unhesitatingly showed them into his own parlour, and
fetched Alain to them, only taking the precaution of turning the door
key upon the outside as he left them alone with the priser, on the
understanding that they should call him from the window when they wished
to leave.

Pale as death, her lovely eyes ringed with dark shades, poor Marguerite
fell upon Alain's breast, without pretence of coyness.

"Alain, mon ami!" she cooed in her soft rich voice, "can you give me
your pardon?"

How far Alain believed this sudden revelation cannot certainly be told.
All that he felt able to do was to strain the girl to his heart and be