CHAPTER XIII.
HUSBAND AND WIFE.
Ever since Mascarin's visit, the Count de Mussidan had been in a deplorable state of mind.

Forgetting the injury to his foot, he passed the night pacing up and down the library, cudgelling his brains for some means of breaking the meshes of the net in which he was entangled.

He knew the necessity for immediate action, for he felt sure that this demand would only be the forerunner of numerous others of a similar character.

He thought over and dismissed many schemes.

Sometimes he had almost decided to go to the police authorities and make a clean breast; then the idea of placing the affair in the hands of a private detective occurred to him; but the more he deliberated, the more he realized the strength of the cord that bound him, and the scandal which exposure would cause.