"A--a slur on a score of noble families?"

I could not deny it.

"Then--is it not worth while to avoid all that?" he murmured,
his face pale, and his small eyes glued to mine. "Is it not
worth a little--sacrifice, M. de Rosny?"

"And risk?" I said. "Possibly."

While the words were still on my lips, something stirred close to
us, behind the yew hedge beside which we were standing. Perrot
darted in a moment to the opening, and I after him. We were just
in time to catch a glimpse of a figure disappearing round the
corner of the house. "Well," I said grimly, "what about being
overheard now?"

M. de Perrot wiped his face. "Thank Heaven!" he said, "it was
only my son. Now let me explain to you--"

But our hasty movement had caught the King's eye, and he came
towards us, covering himself as he approached. I had now an
opportunity of learning whether the girl was, in fact, as
innocent as she seemed, and as every particular of our reception
had declared her; and I watched her closely when Perrot's mode of
address betrayed the King's identity. Suffice it that the vivid
blush which on the instant suffused her face, and the lively
emotion which almost overcame her, left me in no doubt. With a
charming air of bashfulness, and just so much timid awkwardness
as rendered her doubly bewitching, she tried to kneel and kiss