I have answered.

It is the one privilege M.de Berault possesses.' 'Then,' she replied almost in a whisper, 'if I were M.de Berault, I would avail myself of it, and never fight again.' 'In that event, Mademoiselle,' I answered coldly, 'I should lose my men friends as well as my women friends.

Like Monseigneur the Cardinal, rule by fear.' She shuddered, either at the name or at the idea my words called up; and, for a moment, we stood awkwardly silent.

The shadow of the sundial fell between us; the garden was still; here and there a leaf fluttered slowly down.

With each instant of that silence, of that aversion, I felt the gulf between us growing wider, I felt myself growing harder; I mocked at her past which was so unlike mine; I mocked at mine, and called it fate.