"No, Duchesse, fulfil it. I should be disloyal indeed if I robbed a
sovereign under whose tranquil and prosperous reign I have acquired,
with no dishonour, the fortune which Order proffers to Commerce, of one
gallant defender in the hour of need. And, speaking frankly, if Alain
were really my son, I think I am Frenchman enough to remember that France
is my mother."

"Say no more, my friend--say no more," cried the Duchesse, with the warm
blood of the heart rushing through all the delicate coatings of pearl-
powder. "If every Frenchman felt as you do; if in this Paris of ours all
hostilities of class may merge in the one thought of the common country;
if in French hearts there yet thrills the same sentiment as that which,
in the terrible days when all other ties were rent asunder, revered
France as mother, and rallied her sons to her aid against the confederacy
of Europe,--why, then, we need not grow pale with dismay at the sight of
a Prussian needle-gun. Hist! look yonder: is not that a tableau of Youth
in Arcady? Worlds rage around, and Love, unconcerned, whispers to Love!"
The Duchesse here pointed to a corner of the adjoining room in which
Alain and Valerie sat apart, he whispering into her ear; her cheek
downcast, and, even seen at that distance, brightened by the delicate
tenderness of its blushes.




CHAPTER III.

But in that small assembly there were two who did not attract the notice
of Duplessis or of the lady of the Imperial Court. While the Prince ----