"If the devotion of one faithful follower can save him, lady,"
answered Henri, "be assured of his safety. I would pour out the blood
in my veins as freely as water to shield the father of Heloise de
Clairville."

"But you--you--Henri--Monsieur de Grandville--you think nothing of
your own life."

"If I fall," answered the young soldier, "my poor mother will weep
bitterly for her only son, though he perish on the field of honor. But
who else will shed a tear for the poor guardsman?"

"Henri!" exclaimed the young girl, reproachfully, and the soft eyes
she raised to his were filled with tears.

"Is it possible?" cried the young soldier. "Can my fate awaken even a
momentary interest in the heart of the loveliest, the gentlest of her
sex? Ah, why do you render life so dear to me at the moment I must
peril it?"

"Believe me," answered Heloise, drying her tears, "that I would not
hold you back, when honor beckons you. It is to such hands as yours
that the honor of the golden lilies is committed. I am the daughter of
a soldier, and though these tears confess my sex, I honor bravery when
it is displayed in a good cause. I honor the soldier as much as I
detest the duellist."

"Then listen to one whose sword was never stained with his brother's
blood. I had thought to go to the field with my secret concealed in my