"Imbecile!" I sputtered. But he had turned his back on me and resumed
his pacing up and down the court.

"Oh, very well for you, monsieur," I cried out loudly, hoping he could
hear me. "But you will laugh t'other side of your mouth by and by. I'll
pay you off."

It was maddening to be halted like this at the door of my goal; it made
a fool of me. But while I debated whether to set up an outcry that
would bring forward some officer with more sense than the surly sentry,
or whether to seek some other entrance, I became aware of a sudden
bustle in the courtyard, a narrow slice of which I could see through the
gateway. A page dashed across; then a pair of flunkeys passed. There was
some noise of voices and, finally, of hoofs and wheels. Half a dozen
men-at-arms ran to the gates and swung them open, taking their stand on
each side. Clearly, M. le Duc was about to drive out.

A little knot of people had quickly collected--sprung from between the
stones of the pavement, it would seem--to see Monsieur emerge.

"He is a bold man," I heard one say, and a woman answer, "Aye, and a
handsome," ere the heavy coach rolled out of the arch.

I pushed myself in close to the guardsmen, my heart thumping in my
throat now that the moment had come when I should see my Monsieur. At
the sight of his face I sprang bodily up on the coach-step, crying, all
my soul in my voice, "Oh, Monsieur! M. le Duc!"

Monsieur looked at me coldly, blankly, without a hint of recognition.
The next instant the young gentleman beside him sprang up-and struck me