- here she lowered her trembling voice - " of the opinion His
Majesty holds. It is better for me to tell you at once, so that
you may not regret intervening in an affair where there are - where
there are - risks - terrible risks to run. No, this is not a family
drama. The family is small, very small: the general, his daughter
Natacha (by his former marriage), and myself. There could not be a
family drama among us three. It is simply about my husband,
monsieur, who did his duty as a soldier in defending the throne of
his sovereign, my husband whom they mean to assassinate! There is
nothing else, no other situation, my dear little guest."

To hide her distress she started to carve a slice of jellied veal
and carrot.

"You have not eaten, you are hungry. It is dreadful, my dear young
man. See, you must dine with us, and then - you will say adieu.
Yes, you will leave me all alone. I will undertake to save him all
alone. Certainly, I will undertake it."

A tear fell on the slice she was cutting. Rouletabille, who felt
the brave woman's emotion affecting him also, braced himself to keep
from showing it.

"I am able to help you a little all the same," he said. "Monsieur
Koupriane has told me that there is a deep mystery. It is my
vocation to get to the bottom of mysteries."

"I know what Koupriane thinks," she said, shaking her head. "But
if I could bring myself to think that for a single day I would
rather be dead."