"It's a secret; but I should like to tell it to you. I know you'll guard
it sacredly, because it concerns--a woman's honor."

Though she did not look up, she felt the startled toss of the head,
characteristic of his moments of alarm.

"If Mademoiselle is pleased to be satirical--"

"No. There's no reason why I should be satirical. If, in spite of
everything, my confidence in you wasn't absolute, I shouldn't risk a
name I hold so dear as that of Dorothea Pruyn."

"_Tiens!_" he exclaimed, under his breath.

"Miss Pruyn is a charming girl, but she's been very foolish. What she
did was not quite so bad in American eyes as it would be in French ones,
but it was certainly very wilful. If you heard rumors of an elopement,
it was hers."

"_Mon Dieu!_ With the big Monsieur Reggie?"

"Not quite. I needn't tell you the young man's name; it will be enough
to say that the big Monsieur Reggie, as you call him, was in his
confidence. It was Reggie who undertook to convey Dorothea to Lakefield,
where she was to meet the bridegroom-elect and marry him."

"And then?"

"Then Reggie told me. It was silly of any one to intrust him with a