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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clichA, 11 est filmA A partir de Tangle supArleur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants lllustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ! AT I i THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN BY KATHARINE S. MACQUOID AUTHOR OF "PATTY," "AT TH« R8P G|.OV«," BTC, TORONTO : WILLIAM BRYCP:, PUBLISHER. Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety by Wili-iam Bryce in the office of the Minister orAgriculture. IN FA TH AN CONTENTS PROLOGUE '"""" CHAPTER I. IN PARIS • , 17 CHAPTER II. A NFVV LIFE . . , • • • • t , , 20 CHAPTER III, FATHER AND DAUGHTER . . CHAPTER IV. THE SECRETARY .,,,,,, .a CHAPTER V. AN ARRIVAL it. 4 C0.\ TENTS CHAPTER VI. OLD PLAYFELT.OWS 73 CHAPTER VII. A PROPOSAL 89 CHAPTER VIII. DISMISSED . • , lOI CHAPTER IX. THE MARQUIS II4 CHAPTER X. A WISH FULFILLED 1 27 CHAPTER XI. A REPULSE 141 CHAPTER XII. ULINB'S HOPES . . , 1 53 CHAPTER XIII. THE FOUNTAIN OF DRENNEC • . . , . 165 CHAPTER XIV. THE COUSINS. « • iSo -» THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN PROLOGUE. .HE sun had had his own way all day long ; not so much as a cloud had ventured to dispute his possession of the deep blue sky. The cracks on the parched ground seemed to widen under the scorching blaze ; the chestnut-trees in the park of the Chclteau drooped their great leaves as if the August day had been too much for them ; the slates on the cottage just within the park looked many-coloured in the sunshine. In the small Held behind the cottage the fragile stems of white buckwheat blossoms gleamed like threads of blood. It seemed surprising that the bunches of THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN green filberts, nestling in the hedge round the little homestead, had not browned under so much heat. A large chestnut-tree threw broad masses of shadow over the hot clay front of the cottage. A boy with a sunburnt face stood leaning against the chestnut trunk, as if he found the leaf-shelter wel- come. The lad was thirteen, and well grown; but he was thin and plain. The earnestness of his face, and a certain resolute look, made it remarkable, and one forgot his sallow complexion and irregular features. A child sat on a little stool beside him, in every way a perfect contrast to her companion. She was only nine years old, and she looked like a little fairy ; tiny, delicate features, eyes of golden hazel, looking up through shadowy, auburn lashes, with seemingly a tear ready to fall from them; a skin like a pale rose-leaf ; hair, as much of it as her close-fitting linen cap allowed to be seen, bright auburn. She kept her eyes fixed on the boy's face, and two hot, bright tears fell on her lilac pinafore. PROLOGUE 7 His eyes had not left her. *' Why do you cry, Liline ? " he said, tenderly. "If you were a girl you would cry too.** There was archness in the sweet voice. Liline had sharp eyes, and she knew that Gustave had hard work to keep his tears back. She went on, however, sadly : ** It is so much better for you. you know ; you are going back to Paris, and in the holidays you will come to the Chelteau and be happy ; but I shall never see you again, never " — she shook her head. " I shall not come back,'* the boy said, firmly. *' I shall not care to come when you are not here ; but it is nonsense to say you will not see me again ; you are my wife, Liline, and I am your husband. When I can make a home for you, I shall find out where you are, and I shall marry you a He was not looking at Liline now, his eyes were fixed on the great fan-like leaves overhead ; I i THE MAVNTJSD t^OVNTAlN for all his manful determination there were real tears in his dark, sunken eyes. Liline moved her stool closer to him, and then she nestled her lovely little face against the sun- burnt hand that hung down beside him. " Dear Gustave," she murmured, *' dear Gus- tave" — she rubbed softly against him. He pinched her cheek ; but after that he stood silent. He had nothing to begin life with but a determined will, a strong power of self-control, and a warm love for all that seemed to him good and true ; but Gustave Chauvin was an orphan^ and he owed his education and his entire support to his mother's cousin, the Marquis de Vougay. The Marquis was dead, but he had invested a sum of money to be applied to the education and placing in life of his cousin's son, Gustave Chauvin. Many people said that when they were young, the Marquis and his cousin, Marie de Vougay, had been deeply attached, but that as the house of De Vougay had lost much of its former wealth, the PnotoduM 4 n i young Marquis had been compelled to make a wealthy marriage; and that his cousin, Mademoiselle Marie, had remained single ten years for his sake ; then, being of age to do what she pleased, she married Gustave Chauvin, a young cavalry officer, who died when his son was an infant, and before he had time to make a suitable provision for him. Marie Chauvin soon followed her husband, and the Marquis de Vougay took the charge of her child upon himself. Gustave had been brought up with his second cousin, Lucicn. Since her husband's death, the Marquise de Vougay had tried to follow out his wishes by treating the orphan as if he really were her second son. Gustave was so steady and truthful, so honourable, and so persevering, that she really found more comfort in him than she did in her own handsome Lucien. Without any decided vices, Lucien was a scapegrace; his love of amusement led him into frolicsome escapades, that more than once had nearly caused his expulsion 16 T//£ HAUNTED FOVNTAIA from college; and he was never trusted, as Gustave was, alone in the old Chateau in Brittany, under the joint care of the steward Etienne, the cur^ Monsieur Edouin, and the garde champ^tre Basil Grignan, Liline's maternal grandfather. It was not from any neglect that Madame ae Vougay had sent the young fellow to the Chateau these last two summer holidays. She had been warned by Lucien's tutor that although there was affection between the cousins, there was no sympathy, and that Lucien's example was very bad for Gustave, So in the holidays the Marquise had paid visits to her friends, and had sent Lucien and his tutor on their travels. She had never visited the old Breton Chdteau since her husband's death ; but she knew that Gustave loved it, and in sending him there she considered that she had cared for him in all ways ; Monsieur !e Cur^ would be his companion, Etienne would provide for all his bodily comforts, and old Basil would help him to make war on the rabbits, and in any P'co'ncuM ii outdoor sport he had a wish for. She did not know that little Liline Vivier was the attraction that made Gustave's life so happy at Vougay. Liline was only a child, but the boy was fascinated by her. He used to stand watching her" exquisite little face, now sparkling with sunny smiles, or else pensive with tearful eyes, though the sight of Gustave usually brightened her into content. Then her talk was so quaint and pretty, and all her little ways were as dainty as her face was. When he went back to Paris, Gustave used to dream about the bewitching little creature. Sometimes he fancied he could feel her tiny h^nd in his, or see her flyini; like a little fairy as they played hide-and-seek beneath the chequered light and shade of the chestnuts in the woods at Vougay. He never spoke of Liline to any one, but the quiet >oy said to himself: "Yes, I have only to work and to do right, and when the time comes I shall marry Liline, and I shall see her always.** She was his aim in life, and, young as he a TtiE HAumj^i) fot/NtAJN \ was, she was the mainspring of his diligence and of his success in his classes. To him Liline was perfect ; he longed to take her away from the old grandfather, who often scolded her, and to help her in the care required by her invalid mother. Her grandfather had lately died. A new garde had been appointed, and in a few days Liline and her mother were going to an aunt near Rouen. They would stay there, Monsieur le Cur^ said, till Liline's father, Baptiste Vivier, had served his time in the army, then, perhaps, they would go elsewhere; but Baptiste would not get his discharge for eight years or so. "Can you write, Liline?" Gustave said, presently. " You said you were going to learn^ you know/* Liline shook her head. "The road was so bad all the winter, I could not go to school. My aunt will teach me herself, she says." " Has your aunt any employment ? ** PROLOGUE 13 Liline hung her head. " Yes," she pouted, " she is an embroideress, and she says she shall teach me also to embroider ; but I shall not like it, ii: will be so dull. How can I run and jump as I do now ? I must sit still and sew — sew — sew." She gave him a lovely smile, as she mimicked the close attention and the rapid, deft stitches she had watched in her aunt^s work. For a minute it seemed hard to Gustave that this playful, pretty creature should have to do anything she disliked, and then his natural inde- pendence helped his judgment. "But, Liline," he said, "if your aunt is going to do so much for you, it will be well to do something for her ; and look here, you must learn to write very soon, then you can send me a letter now and then," She laughed at this; but the sadness came into her face again, and Gustave saw how much she grieved at leaving Vougay. 14 THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN ■HI I . t "Alter all/* he said, in a cheerful tone, "this has not always been your home, dear child. Your mother says, till you were four years old you lived in Normandy." Liline looked at him fixedly. " I'll tell you something;, Gustave.** " Is it a secret ? " He bent down and put his ear to her lips. She shook her head and gently pushed him away. •*No — il always forget grandfather's dead — it was only a secret from grandfather. This is my secret — I want to see Monsieur Lucien, and now, of course, there is no chance. Why are you frowning, Gustave ? " "Ami?" He was ashamed of the sudden annoyance that took possession of him. " Yes. Why should I not want to see Monsieur Lucien? He will be lord and master here when he is older. He will be called Monsieur le Marquis. PROLOGUE 15 Mother says he is beautiful and rich ; he will never have to work. Ah, how happy he will be ! " " Rich people are not always the happiest." She looked at him doubtingly. "You are wise very often, grandfather said you were wise ; but you are sometimes wrong, Gustave. Grandfather told me that was the use of another life after this. He said rich people will not be the happiest there, as they are here. I know Lucien will be happy when he is master of Vougay. Ye.^ and he will have a beautiful lady for his wife, and she will have nothing to do but to put on new gowns and look at herself in the glass all day long. Ah, mon Dieu, think of that I " Her little face was pathetic, Gustave burst out laughing, "And you think that would be enough to make any one happy, eh, Liliiie } " She drew up her little figure and said, gravely : " Of course, it would make me very happy. i6 THE HAUNTED FOUNJAIA But I could not have told grandfather, you know ; he always scolded me for being vain." Gustave stooped down and kissed her forehead. " You are a dear little goose," he said, " but I am not sure that you would like the Marquis. He does not care for children. Now I am going off to Monsieur le Cur^ ; he is teaching me to play chess. Good-bye till to-morrow, dear little one." He nodded, and was soon out of sight among the trees. " Why should not Monsieui" le Marquis like me?" Liline looked very thoughtful. "Everyone likes me, so of course he will ; we shall see " — she gave a deep sigh — " no, I forgot, I shall never see Lucien because I am going away from Chateau Vougay," li ai tc b q cl a si n W r--a."->- CHAPTER I. IN PARIS. LARGE, dull room at the back of a great house in Paris. The walls are dark, but the mirrors on two sides lighten them. The furniture and the hangings are good and tasteful, but these have plainly come together by accident, relegations from several better rooms in the vast house. Their haphazard quality makes one at first sight mistake this chamber in the Hdtel de Vougay for a room in a lodging-house. The three persons in the room were as incon- gruous as the furniture was. A dark-haired woman stood at a window, and two other persons, a middle-aeed man and a g^irl, were beside a table ^itter^d with cuttings of silk and muslin, some of i8 THE HAUNTED FOUNT AIS \ u ! ilT is autumn ag^ain, and the chestnut leaves have begun to turn colour ; some of them lie dead at the foot of the huge, gray trunk, that shows its stout, twisted limbs far more plainly than it did ten years ago, on that hot August day, when Gustave and Liline talked under its shadow. There is a change, too, in the cottage. To the clay wall that faced the original dwelling, an extra room has been added on each of the two floors. This addition, built of logs, has larger windows than any belonging to the old house, which, indeed, had been content with only one small window in front, and with the light that came in through the arched top of the entrance M ! A NEiV UFE %1 door, the upper half of which always stood open in day-time. It is true a larger window at the back shed light into the long, low room, clay- floored, with a rack for provisions fixed to the ceiling beam, and box-beds in the wall on either side the hearth. Ten years ago this long kitchen had been all-sufficient as living and sleeping room for the old garde, his invalid daughter, and her little Liline. The woman who cooked for them and tidied up the place had lived some way oft in a cottage near the church. Since then a n«^w garde had occupied the old house, and had died there just before Bapti§te Vivier got his discharge from the army, Madame de Vougay felt it hard that Liline should be so willing to leave her, but she was too kind to send the girl back to the clay-floored cottage, fresh from the luxuries to which two years in Paris had accustomed her. It was by the Marquise's orders that these additional rooms had been constructed, and while they were pre- "M is fHJZ tiAVNTEi) POUNTAiS paring, the father and daughter received perniissioil to occupy some of the out-of-the-way rooms in the Chateau. The afternoon sun was so level that the chestnut-tree no longer screened his light. It came in at the wide window, and fell full on Liline's bright auburn hair as she sat bending over her needlework. It seemed to be easy work enough ; she was sewing a lace frill into the collar of a neat-looking black silk gown that lay across her knees, and yet she gave a deep sigh as she ended her task. She put her thimble away in her work-basket and looked out of window. The light made her crown of auburn hair glorious. It became a red -gold as the last gleams fell on it, and, by contrast, her fair skin looked paler than usual. She had fulfilled her early promise. At nine- teen she was as lovely a girl as could easily be found, although just now the beauty of her golden brown eyes was spoiled by their discon- tent; her lips, too, looked as if they wanted to A NEW LIFE a9 missioii oms in lat the :ht. It full on •ending y work collar across as she vay in . The us. It it, and, isual. ^ nine- iily be >f her liscon- ted to quarrel. She put her hand in her pocket and pulled out a note. First she held it to her nose and said "Ah!" with satisfaction as she smelled the perfumed paper, then she looked for a minute at the coronets on the envelope and at the heading of the note, and then she read the delicate writing slowly through — the third reading since it had reached her. It was very short. K Dear Child" (it said), "you have, no doubt, heard that I was coming *^o Vougay. I have taken every one by surprise — and here I am. Your successor, Mademoiselle la Bouillerie, was too ill to accompany me, and it may be some weeks before she is well enough to come. Tell your father he must spare you to me while I am at Vougay; at least you must come to me while I am alone. I expect you to-morrow at ten o'clock. Etienne will send for your clothes. '* Your Friend, ''Anne m Vougay." ' I ! ' i 30 THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN lii Liline kissed the letter and her discontent fled. "Father will spare me — he must, the letter will show him how sweet she is ; ah, why did I ever leave her?" She replaced the note in the envelope and put it carefully on the little mantelshelf; then she looked at herself in the mirror above it. Liline smiled at what she saw, and a pretty pink flush came into her cheek ; she felt that she was much prettier now than when she left the Marquise two years ago, and they had not met since that time. The blush was not all pleasure; Liline was a little ashamed, too. She looked at her hands — they were sunburnt, and she was not sur-e that the Marquise would like to see her with so much colour in her cheeks. In the confined life she had led in Paris, Liline had become pale. She had lived in two rooms, and, except on Sundays and on festivals, had taken her exercise in the garden of the H6tel de Vougay; ^^^■> A NEIV LIFE 31 content ; letter r did I pe and len she Liline ik flush s much arquise ce that Liline at her as not ee her In the lie had IS, and, taken louga)^; even when she did go out with an old, staid bonne, the girl had become utterly weary ©♦ her seclusion in the midst of life, and when her father asked her to come to him, she ha> \ iii! nd took I end of tood the supper, his pipe. I beside sly, while pper. It did as a ^he house the poor nne went she was idmother, >ther had ad put up Certainly, a dainty :hat were tanne, and PATHEk AND tfAVGtitBtt p the poor ugly woman was so bewitched with hei young mistress's beauty, that it seemed to her she could never try hard enough to please Liline. To-night Liline felt degraded as she washed and wiped the bowls and plates. ** It is not fit work for me," she thought, ** it spoils my hands; Marie Jeanne ought not to go home so soon." *' Liline, have you heard any news ? " Baptiste was holding his pipe between his finger and thumb. He had been watching his daughter's sad, serious face. She looked quickly at him, and she felt sure that he had heard of the ch&telaine's arrival. ** Yes, I was waiting to tell you. I have a note from Madame herself." Her eyes sparkled. Baptiste had not seen fier look so gay for months, and he felt rejoiced. " That is good ; that is kind of Madame la Marquise — very kind. She did not arrive till three o'clock. She slept last night at Morlaix. . THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN Well, my child, you must go up to-morrow ot next day, and pay your respects." He went on smoking. Liline*s cheeks flushed, she could hardly hide her contempt; the notion that her father could teacl. her how to behave to her benefactress was so very absurd ! What could such an old, rough soldier know about behaviour to a lady ? " She has sent for me, father, to go at once. Listen, I will read the note." The smile left his bronzed face while he listened, and Liline might .lave seen his heavy gray moustache quiver, as if the lips beneath were in pain. He stretched his large hand out to take the letter. But Liline drew back, " I will read it again. You might grease it, and it is so sweet and nice, so just like her, dear lady." Baptiste was frowning now, and the girl felt a little nervous. She came forward again, and held the letter open before him, so that he might read . it himself. X ■S '••5 Mth£r a^d daughter 39 ►rrow ot !e went dly hide er could »s was so j, rough at once. : listened, vy gray were in take the read it weet and 3;irl felt a and held ight read When he had finished, he looked steadily at Liline, and he read her face as carefully as he had read the dainty writing of the Marquise. His chest heaved, and a strange, fixed look came into his face, a look that his comrades used to notice in the face of Baptiste Vivier before he went into action. *' Do you wish to do this, child ? " He said it tenderly ; but Liline felt sure that he did not want to let her go. " Yes, father," she said, firmly, ** I wish it more than I can say." Baptiste sighed, then he frowned again ; finally he put his pipe between his lips, and puffed out a volume of smoke. " When I came back," he began to speak, with his pipe in his mouth, so that the words sounded indistinct, " I noticed you were glad to leave the lady, and— n He rose up, laid his pipe on the high mantel-shelf, and clasped his hands behind his back. rw I- I II' i 40 THE MAVNTMD POt/NfAlA Liline pouted, and she raised her eyes from the dainty note in her hand. " I inquired about your life, my child," Baptiste went on, *' and you told me it ;vas too dull to be borne. I ask myself, then, why does my girl wish to go back to this dull life ? " Liline looked away. The pain in his honest brown eyes hurt her; she could not bear to see it ; she saw the reason jie was giving to himself; he had discovered that he was not able to make her happy. She could not contradict him ; it was the truth. There was freedom in her cottage life, and it was good for her health and her appetite ; but she was heartily tired of her plain, monotonous meals, and she wanted variety. When she complained to Monsieur le Cur6, he had asked her to visit a poor, blind woman, who lived in a cottage in the park ; he said also, she could teach this poor creature's child to read. But Liline had answered him that her father required all her time at home. The i'k 3 'om the Saptiste 11 to be ;irl wish I honest see it ; self; he take her it was d it was she was eals, and lined to t a poor, le park ; reature's lim that je. The J it 15 I ifAttitk AffD t)AVGflTM^ 4i c\xvi saw that she came to church, and did ail that could be expected of her ; but, for all that, her answer troubled him, he feared that Baptiste must be selfish not to allow his daughter a little of her time to give to others. " Father," she said, after a pause, * would it not be ungrateful if I were to refuse *-o oblige Madame ? See hov*" good she was about the house, and how much she did to make us comfortable, and she is all alone at the Chiteau." Baptiste looked hard at her. "Well, Liline,' he said, " I don't want to be selfish, but as you have to live in a cottage, it is better to be content with it. I fancy the cottage is a safer place for you than the Chdteau.'' " Safer i father, when I am to be alone with Madame herself. What harm could 1 get from her ? " Her eyes were full of angry light, and her red lips looked rebellious. Baptiste did not know how to answer the mi^ 4* T//E HaVNTED POUNtAiN \ liiijii;]'! spoiled child, but he felt in a dim way that no good could come of this visit to the Chateau; and then, while he stood dumbly staring at her, feeling that it would be selfish not to yield, as he could find no good reason to put in words, he remembered what the cur^ had said to him, when he met him two days before in the park. Monsieur Ldouin had told him that Madame de Vougay was ex- pected at the Chateau. Then he added : " Baptiste, my friend, do not let your daughter be idle. She will be happier and safer, too, if she has regular daily employment." And Baptiste had answered : " She sews, mon- sieur, and — and — " for as he tried to think, he found it hard to recall what Liline did in the way of daily work — "she reads when she can get hold of a book." The cur^ shook his head. " P.eading and sew- ing are not the best employments for so attractive a girl," he said ; " it would be better if she helped in the house- work or the cooking, or she might try vi PATHtik AND DAUGtiTER it \o good id then, ng that lid find m-bered let him lidouin vas ex- 5aptiste, e. She regular ^s, mon- link, he in the can get .nd sew- ttractive ; helped ight try to be of use to some of her poor neighbours, eh, my good friend ? " '* She is free to do that, or anything else that pleases her ; she is a good child, Monsieur le Curd, and I want her to please herself" " So I see," the priest had said, drily. " Take care, my friend ; you are perhaps teaching Lilinc to be selfish. A selfish woman is worse than a selfish man, remember." In the light of these words, Baptiste now saw that the girl was self-willed. He was dis;josed to indulge her ; but it seemed to him that she ought to show some consideration for his wishes, and then he remembered that this was almost the first time he had thwarted her. "Well!" she spoke impatiently, *' say, father, that you will let me go." Baptiste sighed. A feeling of anger rose against the beautiful creature who stood fronting him, her golden eyes full of demand rather than of suppli- cation. In that moment he realised that that 44 tff£ ttAVNTEt) PoVffTAit^ m\ :| which had come to him before as a dim fear wa^ the truth ; Liline did not return the love he felt for her, she was indifferent to him ; he saw that the smile with which she had greeted him a while ago, and for which the poor fellow had felt so grateful, had been only gladness that she could tell him her news. He felt tempted to say : " Go to the Chateau, and stay there." He longed to reproach her with her coldness to him; but this was not the way in which Monsieur Edouiii meant him to control his wayward child. '* I am going to tell you/' he said, slowly. Liline looked attentive. She recognised a new tone in her father's voice, a tone of authority, and it impressed her; but she wondered what it meant. " 1 do not like you to go to the Ch&teau, my child ; but I see you wish it, and Liline, so far I have always tried to let you be happy in your own way ; but understand me, you must not sleep in the Chateau. I shall come every evening and FATHER AND DAUGHTER 45 ir wa^ le felt AT that I while felt so could : " Go tged to lit this meant . a new ty, and hat it au, my > far I ur own eep in ig and fetch you home. I do not choose that you should sleep at Chateau de Vougay." She pressed her hands together, and bit her pretty lips with vexation. " Father," she said, passionately. Baptiste turned away. Her tone gave him courage, for he saw that Monsieur fedouin had spoken truly. •* It must be as I say, child," he said, firmly, "or else you had best stay at home." Then, as if he dreaded further opposition, Baptiste crossed the kitchen and went out. Liline looked triumphant " At last," she said. ** Monsieur le Marquis is sure to come to Vougay, and this time he ihall see me, and he shall speak to me, too." She looked very pretty as she nodded her fair head, pretty and determined, too. N ■li I,. , CHAPTER IV. THE SECRETARY. HE clock was striking ten as Lilinc Vivier passed through the gr^at open gates of Chateau Vougay. Yesterday, only an hour before the appointed time, news h..d come that the Marquise would arrive at three o'clock ; it was then found that the hinges of the great gates were so stiff from disuse, that the gates were opened with difficulty, and Maturin, the gatekeeper, had not yet found it possible to get help to close them. As Liline crossed the grass -grown outer court, a large dog came slowly forward ; he was old and almost blind, but as he drew near the girl, his sullen aspect changed, his tail moved slowly, and when he came close, he fawned THE SECRETARY 47 Lilinc it open sterday, \y news rive at hinges se, that ^, and >und it outer he was ear the moved fawned upon Liline and put his huge paws against her waist. '* Oh, Nero, go away — down, dirty dog,*' she cried ; and indeed the dog's paws had left dark traces on the buff ground of her fresh cambric gown ; then, as he opened his huge mouth in a welcoming bark, she called out in terror : " Poor Nero, good dog, is he glad to see me then ? " "Come away, Nero," a stern voice said, and Liline rejoiced to see the steward standing in the entrance of the stone screen that parted the outer court from that of the Ch&teau. She nodded and smiled at old ^tienne, who was soft-hearted with regard to beauty. He took off his straw hat and n: . her a ceremonious bow. " You are punctual, my child ; come in, our lady expects you." He turned and crossed tlie inner court with her. The ground here was not quite so rough, and the round paddock in the centre, where the ll r i f lllf 4a THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN i I after-crop had stood, half a yard or so high, had been mown this morning, and the cut grass already looked gray against the tawny stubble. In front was the old gray Ch&teau, some of its stones stained here and there a warmer hue with golden lichens, while over the rest was the frosted look of age. The grand entrance, of later date than the house, had a pediment above the pillared portico. There were many windows all along the building, and the pile was crowned with a high slate roof, with dormer windows; showing at the corners were round tourelles with black peaked roofs. The buildings right and left of the courts were much lower than the central por- tion, and at the right-hand corner, adjoining the screen, was the pointed roof and round apse of the chapel. Liline looked about her with a glad feeling of recognition. This was mucli more like home to her than the house in the wood had been since her return to it. She followed Etienne, the > high, t grass ttubble. I of its Lie with frosted er date pillared along with a thowing I black : of the al por- ing the apse of feeling :e home id been nne, the THE SECRETARY 49 steward, up the broad flight* of steps into a large hall, where the flooring squares of black and white marble looked greenish with the damp of disuse ; and a huge lamp hanging from the high ceiling was so festooned with cobwebs, that one might have fancied it was shrouded in gray gauze. There were two doors on the left and three on the right. The staircase ended above in blankness, it went up from the middle of the hall to a large door on the landing; but there was no gallery visible on either side of it, only blank gray walls. Two doors below flanked the staircase on either side and led to the oflices. The girl shivered a little as she entered the grim old house. "Come this way, if you please," the steward said, and he opened one of the doors below the staircase. This led into a long passage lighted only from another room ; at each end there was a spiral staircase. Etienne pointed to the rightp iii: I 1 I I III fi 50 TI/E HAUNTED FOUNTAIN " Go uo there." he said, " you will meet Made- moiselle Nathalie at the top. Good morning." "Thank you," said Liline; she felt sud- denly timid ; even when she was living here for those few days she had always been afraid to explore the upper floor of the Ch&teau. She knew there was nothing worth seeing upstairs, for all the furniture had been either taken away or ivas packed up, and ^tienne had told her the place was full of bats and owls ; so she had contented herself with roaming about the lower rooms, and gazing at the portraits of dead De Vougaya. When she reached the end of a gallery at the top of this back staircase, Liline's courage came back, for facing her was tall, dark Nathalie, with a fawning smile on her thin lips, and a keen, almost spiteful look in her black eyes. Liline had lost all fear of Nathalie long ago, when she discovered that Madame de Vougay preferred her to her maid. "Ciell" Nathalie raised her eyebrows in wonder, t| 3 I B THE SECRETARY 51 t Made- mg. Jelt sud- here for afraid to She knew -s, for all ly or ^vas place was ted herself nd gazing ery at the rage came ilie, with a *en, almost lad lost all discovere.d her to her s in wonder, " to think how you have grown, mademoiselle ; you do credit to country air.** The girl's beauty and her self-possessed manner had for a moment so imposed on Nathalie, that she said " mademoiselle " in spite of herself. She made haste, however, to rectify her mistake. " Follow me, Liline," she said, carelessly, " I will show you Madame's room ; your sleeping-room will do later." Liline followed in silence along the gallery ; she felt herself very superior to Nathalie, and it was not necessary to tell her that she should not sleep at the Chateau. The woman stopped, opened an outer door, and then she knocked at the inner one. " Come in " was said, and Nathalie opened the inner door. The walls of the room within looked very desolate. The paper hung so loosely, that in the corners it made festoons and ragged Hags with its tatters. But the floor was covered with fine old Jtapestries, and .5ome ancient .white and jgold ^ofas ttiti 5* THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN if i and arm-chairs, covered \ ith painted satin, had been taken hastily out of their wrappings, and with two or thiee spindle-legged tables gave a quaint and refined character to the Marquise's room. The bedstead was shrouded by curtains; but Madame's own especial table and her desk had travelled with her from Paris. She sat bent over her writing, and her back was towards the door. Nathalie did not speak. She let Liline wait her mistress's leisure, and she left the room. The Marquise looked round as the doo«* closed, avid then she rose and came forward, with a smile on her fair, high- nosed face. " Dear child, is it you ? " She bent down and kissed Liline's forehead, and then while she looked at her, the smile beamed out of her blue eyes, and curved her thin lips into an admiring gaze. " So, my child, you are as blooming as a Provence rose. I am glad to see you again. Sit down and tell me about your father." The Marquise was very taU, and she looked Th:: sficRkTAkV n, had 5, and gave a rquise's jrtains ; esk had ;nt over door, ne wait 1. r closed, a smile own and ,e looked yes, and %% se. « So, Provence sit down e looked V6ry dignified as she placed herself in an easy- chair, and pointed to a stool near it It seemed to Liline, as she seated herself at the lady's feet, that Madame de Vougay had aged very much since she left her. Her forehead was still free from creases; but the network of fine lines at the corner of each eye had become criss- crossed like a spider's web. " My father is quite well, Madame, thank you." She tried to feel quite at ease; but the repose of the lady's manners, and her quiet, refined way of speaking, awed the girl. She thought, if she could only behave like that— well, she would try, and then she should be a lady. . " It is good of him to spare you. Now I look at you, Liline, I wonder he could part with you so easily. It does one good to see anything so pretty as you are, my child. I have never really replaced you, little one." She patted the girl's rich hair as affectionately as if she were still the child she called her. I 1 1 ■ 1 1 I I hp'^ t 1 i ' i '' ! ill 1 i 1 1 ii,., 1 ' i . ; 1 S4, fM ^AUffTED FOUNTAIN' tiline blushed ; she hated the task her father' had put on her. She felt so sure that what she had to say would annoy Madame de Vougay. " If you please, Madame, I am very sorry ; but my father says he cannot spare me altogether ; he wishes to fetch me home every evening." She pouted; and tears of vexation rushed to her eyes, she could not look up. " That will do very well, Liline. I like to be alone with my books in the evening, I shall not want you then. Tell your father 1 am content with his arranjjement. Now let us get to work, my child. You can write at that table in the window^ I will dictate as I sit here." Liline was terribly disconcerted. In many ways she was prosaic ; but for all that she had some imagination, and since she received Madame de Vougay's note, it had been playing her sad tricks. It had even persuaded her that the Marquise con- sidered her a friend, and had asked her to the Chciteau for the sake of her companionship. And father' at she f ; but er ; he hed to ; to be all not content 3rk, my window, ly ways d some ame de 1 tricks, ise con- to the 1 And THE SECRETARY ii now this fancy was rudely dispelled. She saw Madame de Vougay lean back and close her eyes, a pose she so well remembered in those old day?, and the feeling of ennui came back. She sighed as she placed herself at the table in the window, for she also remembered the weary hours she had passed, pen in hand, waiting for the effusions of the lady's muse. But she thought she had been a child at that time ; things must be different now ** One's best ideas are sure to come when one has no power of registering them." Madame de Vougay kept her eyes closed while she spoke. " On the journey from Paris many beautiful lines flashed through my brain. I cannot recall one of them now. Let us hope that something else will come in place of them." At the end of an hour, when Liline's feet tingled with keeping still, and she felt altogether restless and impatient, Madame de Vougay had dictated a composition which a careful k'eader I ; ^6 fHE ftAtJNTkto PdUMTAiN m -1 1 r of Lamartine would have said did credit to her memory rather than to her invention. "Read it all over, child; is it not lovely? Does it not thrill you?" she said. "It is beautiful, Madame." Liline could not understand the verses, but she felt sure they must be very fine. " I am going to walk on the terrace now, my child" Liline rose, wiped her pens and shut up the blotting-book on which she had been writing. She longed to stretch her arms and to gape; but now at last she was going to enjoy herself. She should of course walk with the Marquise, ard it was possible in their talk that she might learn when the Marquis was coming to the Chateau. After his return from England, when Liline had caught that brief glimpse of him, he had gone to St. Petersburg, but Liline had not heard any news of him for a long time. " While I am out, you can make two copies I i li. ^'11 fHM SECRi^TARV Vi to her ovely ? lid not ;y must ow, my up the writing. > gape; herself, [arquise, le might to the id, when of him, iline had time, ro copies oi those verses." Madame de Vougay had a very soft, pleasant way of speaking ; she nodded at Liiline and went to the door that opened into her dressing-room. " When you have finished you will find Nathalie in here, and then she will give you something to eat. Stay " She turned and came half-way back. **At present I am alone, Liline, but in a few days I may have a visitor or two, and therefore you had better keep to my apartments; Nathalie will let you have a little room close by for yourself You understand that I do not wish you to be seen in the Ch«lteau by any one, my child ; you come here for me only." She went out without waiting for Liline's answer, and it was as well. The girl was very angry, she was more than angry, for she suddenly understood her position ; the Marquise wanted to use her like a machine. "Unkind old woman," she said to herself ; " does she suppose that any one so young and so beautiful as I am can like to be cooped up only to write down ridiculous verses?'* ''■^f^ .1,1 I !»!ll!'l}; M I iiJ< !:i " I ^ T/fE HAUNTED FOUNT AII^' Liline knew that the command that she should keep to one part of the Chateau galled her far more than the monotonous occupation did. She had persuaded herself that at last htr dream would come true — she should speak to Monsieur Lucien. She rarely thought about her old friend Gustave Chauvin ; at the beginning of her life in Paris she had once boasted of her childish acquaintance with Monsieur Chauvin, and Nathalie had told her in a slighting way that Monsieur Gustave was only a poor relation, and that but for the Marquise's kindness he would be a beggar. After this snub Liline did not mention his name ; and when she came back to Vougay, although she asked many questions about Monsieur le Marquis, she had not once inquired for his cousin. She had r-sver suffered from poverty ; but those two years in the H6tel de Vongay had strengthened her determination to be, as she said, " a lady," and a lady in Liline'3 i tm StCRMtARir i^ 6pinion must be rich and able to dress to perfection. *'Yes, yes/* she sobbed, as she sat down to her writing again, ** I see now why the Marquise has me here — this is my prison. Monsieur Lucien will have no chance of finding me out even if he should go to the house in the wood." There was a knock at the outer door. "At least I may see what happens," she said, sulkily to herself; then she called out: ••Come in." ^tienne, the steward, opened the door and came forward with so low a bow that he did not at first perceive his mistress's absence. Liline saw that he carried a telegram on the little tray in his hand. ** Madame has just gone to her dressing-room," she said, '* I will take the telegram to her." The steward gave it, but he waited for any orders that it might occasion. Liline knocked at Madame de Vougay's door, • ^ ■ = '#! I ii i ;,! Bi ^ r//"^ HAUNti^D tOU^tAI^ and being told to come in, she found the Marquis^ sitting while Nathalie pinned a large Leghorn hat securely to her mistress's fair hair. "fitienne has brought a telegram, Madame/' Liline said, " he waits for orders." She looked hard -.X Madame de Vougay while she read the telegram, but there was no change on her pleasant face. " Tiiere is no answer/' she said. " You can tell Etienne to come to me on the terrace." Liline went oui and Nathalie closed the door behind her. When Etienne had gone, the girl did not, however, go back at once to her writing. She moved again to the door of the Marquise's room, and, although she did not appear to be listening, she heard Madame de Vougay say : "Oh no — not the Marquis — it is Monsieur Gustave ; but he will only stay a day ot two." CHAPTER V AN ARRIVAL. can ADAME DE VOUGAY was greatly im- pressed by Liline's beauty ; the girl's self-possession, too, seemed wonder- ful, considering that she -lived quite out of the world, alone with her father, who was, of course, only a rough soldier. She was altogether so attractive that she must certainly be kept out of the way of Lucien, should he visit the Chclteau. " The best way will be to find a suitable husband for the girl," the lady thought, as she walked up and down the broad terrace, between rows of myrtles, and orange-trees in huge green and white tubs. There were really no garden flowers at the Chateau. A thicket of roses and honeysuckle clustered round a green, gray fountain, and long I I li If THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN trailing periwinkles hid traces of walks ; here and there a tall spike of foxglove pierced its way out of this flowery jungle, which marked the spot where the garden had been. It lay at the south end of the terrace, and as she reached it the chatelaine's eyes rested longingly on the old gray fountain and its surroundings; but for Lucien's debts she felt that the restoration of the garden might have been possible. Gustave's telegram said that he was coming on Lucien's business. The poor mother's heart ached ; she feared her son had got into some fresh trouble, and yet, on his return from Russia, he had seemed to be completely sobered. In regard to Gustave, it was a little awkward that he should come to Vougay just as she had sent for Liline. Well, well ; he need not see the girl. She must take care of that. But when she reached the other end of the terrace, Madame de Vougay smiled. at her own precautions. Gustave was not Kkc her son, Lucien, .shje thought pustave had ji cold, well-regulateii AN ARKIVAL 63 nature ; he was bent on advancing himself in his profession ; there was no fear that he would entangle himself with a pretty village girl. But then Liline Vivier was not like an ordinary village girl. Madame de Vougay disliked any sort of worry ; and now she shook herself free from this one by reflecting on Gusiave's high moral tone. ** Lucien calls him a saint/' she said, lightly ; " there can be no danger for Liline in such a man as Gustave Chauvin, she can gain only good from him if they should meet." A sudden idea flushed the Marquise's pale face. Witat a subject for her poetic powers would be this idyl of a well-born youth and a village maiden exchanging their first love sighs I They were both too virtuous and well-brought-up to do more than sigh over their love. Gustave was (ar too honourable to think of wronging Li^' .., and certainly he would never dream of marrying her; it would be just a brief episode in two young lives. "Setting aside his own wish to rise in thp THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN I Wi : II EM world," she thought, complacently, "he would never outrage his family by a misalliance. No, he may be trusted if he should meet with this lovely child. Ah, yes ; it would make a charming little episode in both their lives. I will leave chance to settle it, and I will not speak of Liline to Gustave." Liline found the afternoon dictation less irk- some. In the long pauses she had time to wonder what Gustave Chauvin would think of her. Baptiste came at six o'clock to fetch his daughter, and as they walked home together, he was much surprised by her silence. He had expected to find her full of gaiety — excited even by the pleasure of meeting with Madame de Vougay ; but he did not question the girl ; he was so happy to have his darling once more beside him, that he was content to walk on with her in silence, wondering, as he often did in his humble way, how it had happened that so rough a fellow as he, was father to such a dainty bit of loveliness, AN ARRIVAL «>5 tch his gether. He excited ame de he was de him, silence, y, how he> was *' Are you to go again to-morrow, sweetheart ? " ne said at last, when they were clear of the Chateau, and were making their way across an unfrequented part of the park. Liline was thinking about Gustave Chauvin. She roused when her father spoke ; she did not mean to let him guess how disappointed she was with her benefactress. " I beg your pardon," she said, " I w^s think- ing. Yes, I am to go to-morrow, and every day, I fancy." She wondered whether her father knew that Monsieur Chauvin was expected, and she decided to give him her own version. If he heard the story from any one else, he might take it into his head to keep her away from the Chateau during the young man's visit. Liline knew that she had power over her father ; but she did not love him well enough to trust him ; her sole trust lay in herself. " Did you hear that Monsieur Chauvin is commg ( " cfie said. ** Perhaps you aia not Know ! 4ii! ,t ! I' '' " -iiiiii.i 1 I III] 66 THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN him, lather." She looked up at Baptiste with so innocent an expression, that it would have been impossible to doubt her simplicity. " No, child." "When mother and I lived here, he used to come to see us ; he was a big, ugly boy." She laughed merrily. Baptiste looked hard at her ; but she did not flinch ; and, indeed, when she thought of those old days, she was greatly amused; it seemed absurd that so big a lad had been able to find pleasure in talking to such a baby as she had been. " Did you like this Monsieur Gustave ? " Baptiste's voice was ill-assured. He had felt a sudden jealousy, and he was half ashamed of his question. ** You see, he was my only playfellow." Liline laughed. " 1 used to tease him, for he was slow and stupid, and he was shy. Oh, depend upon it, father, he is quite another sort of man from Monsieur le Marquis." Baptiste was troubled by her flippant manner. AN ARRIVAL 67 id not ose old absurd >leasure itave ? '• I felt a of his Liline vas slow upon it, lan from : manner. "What do you know about Monsieur le Marquis ? " he said, sharply. " I — I never spoke to him ; but I know he is handsome, and everybody likes him ; and he is the master of Vougay. It will be a grand day for all of us, will it not, when he marries, and brings a young mistress to the Chftteau ? " "Diable!" Baptiste raised his rugged eyebrows. "Are you not content with your old mistress, my jewel } Why do you wish to see her set aside ? " Liline shook her head. " She will not stay here, father. When I asked why Madame's bedroom was not repaired, and made more suitable, Nathalie said, ' That is Monsieur Lucien's affair. Madame has a house • of her own near the Lake of Geneva.' " The old soldier bent his head. " Poor lady," he said, " people of her class must find France sadly changed ; but on her own land, among her own people here in Brittany they are not Republicans, they still believe in the lilies of France: Ah, why does she not trust her people ? " ill r- :!i. i !m li ■ I I 1 I M 68 THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN Liline was thinking of the poetic lamentation which had been dictated to her in the course of the afternoon. " I do not know," she said ; " but I am sure Madame is troubled " She broke ofif — her father's eyes were bent on the ground — but Liline heard footsteps, and she saw a man's figure moving among the chestnuts beyond them. She felt sure that it was a stranger, for no one but a stranger was likely to take this wild way to the Chdteau. More than once as they walked her father had cut her an opening through the luxuriant briar arms that now and then formed a barrier, and threatened destruc- • tion to her gown. The stranger might possibly be Monsieur Chauvin himself; if so, he might have gone round to the cottage to see his old play- fellow before he presented himself at the Chateau. Her interest in Gustave had been faint. She had only thought of him as a conquest better worth making, than the stolid-faced, huge- collared, wooden shod young farmers, who loitered AN ARRIVAL ^ outside the church, and gazed at her so longingly, yet so sheepishly, every Sunday when she passed in and out of the porch. If this was Monsieur Chauvin and he had gone out of his way to look for her, things were altogether different from what she had supposed them. Her heart beat quickly as she remembered that her boy-lover had always called her his little wife. Baptiste looked up — his ear had also caught the sound of footsteps — even before Li line heard them. The man advancing towards them in the mingled light and shade of the chestnut boughs, was still on the pasture side of the park. " It is a stranger," Baptiste stopped " You had better stay here, Liline, I will go forward and see who he is." She pouted and felt rebellious, but she obeyed. Her natural coolness helped her against her angry self-will. If Gustave Chauvin had gone to the house in the wood, he had gone to see her, and, therefore, he mu.st be able to guess who she was, while she »tuod waiting lur her lather to t i il ^o THE HAUNTED FOUNTAtS come back. She knew how becoming her little straw hat was, and she moved some steps aside so that the fast fading light might fall on her and make her more conspicuous. She saw her father pull off his hat as the stranger spoke to him, and she knew that she had guessed rightly. But why did they not at once come to her as she stood waiting ? Her pretty rose-leaf colour deepened — she hoped her father had not disgusted Monsieur Chauvin by any unneces::ary show of humility. Monsieur Gustave was a gentleman by birth ; but he was not master of Vougay or of her father either, and in these Republican days, the girl thought a great show of deference was old-fashioned anu ignorant. What was this ? The stranger was nodding familiarly to her father, and now he was going straight for the Chateau by a path to which Baptiste pointed as they parted. It was too bad, too altogether tyrannical to be borne. Liline's small hands clenched involuntarily, and tears of mortified vanity filled her eyes. AN ARRIVAL 71 "Father will make me hate him/* she said, angrily ; " he has let Monsieur Gustave go on without so much as asking him to come and speak to me — one would think I was still a baby." When Baptiste came back she kept silence. She saw that he looked at her anxiously, but she was not going to take him into her confidence ; if he thought she was vexed he niight take it into his head that she cared for Monsieur Gustave. Liline affected to despise the Marquise's maid, and she tried to treat Nathalie as an inferior, but she had insensibly adopted many of the woman's opinionr, and one of them had taken firm possession of the girl that men, especially middle-aged men, were blunderers and thick- witted, and that such men were in every way, except mere personal strength, inferior to women. "That was Monsieur Chauvin," her father said. " I showed him the direct path to the Chateau. He has been to St. Pol, and has walked on here from Bodilis." " That is a long walk, is it not ? " She spoke i i '(hi! i"':, i,i II' rh! t 1 n 'I H ' 1 ' I I •!! I' 74 r//£! kAVf^TED POVNTAIf^ carelessly, but she was a little shaken in her self- confidence. If Monsieur Gustave was coming from Bodilis and not, as she had expected, from Mor- laix, he might be on that side of the park without having thought about the house in the wood. Her father did not answer ; he was troubled by Monsieur Chauvin's arrival. He had hoped to keep Liline out of the way of gentlemen till she was safely married to a man in her own station. If she got notice and admiration from gentlemen, her bead would be turned ; it was his duty, Baptiste argued, to shield her from that temptation. He had always heard that poor cousins belonging to great houses, like Monsieur Gustave, were undesirable acquaintances. They had nothing of their own, and they would take all they could get. Baptiste had met with more than one of these hangers-on in the army, " full of poor pride " as he called it. He said no more about Monsieur Chauvin, and Liline's willingness to talk of other things satisfied her father that she had no curiosity respecting the young fellow. CHAPTER VI. OLD PLAYFELLOWS. I LINE smiled, while she poured out her father's coffee, and ate her own break- fast. She went to the door with him and kissed his cheek before he started on his daily tramp through the woods and meadovs of Vougay. She watthed him out of sight, and then she drew a deep breath of relief. Marie Jeanne was in the kitchen rubbing the brass hinges and fittings of a large wardrobe there ; and Liline departed to her own little room to think out the day before her. With all her cleverness, she was puzzled by her father's silence. It might have been reticence, she thought ; then aj^^ain, Monsieur Gustave mi^ht not have said anything — in that case her father had nothing to tell her. It was the fear of this that ii^ 74 THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN ,1 i , ;: ;-\\ 1 1 |. I: \ 111 ;i;^ ii * had kept her from asking if Monsieur Chauvin had spoken about her. It would have been so mortifying to hear from her father that her ciiild lover had forgotten her. She set off earlier tt -day for the Ch&teau. She took be orehaod a on^j look in her little mirror. She went by the .iort ^ ay her father had brought her home last night. "It is newer and altogether pleasanter," she said, and then she laughed softly, as if some other agreeable thought had suggested itself. There was a curious contradiction in Liline's nature. Whatever she wished for she tried to obtain. She would never yi^ld a fraction of the coveted object ; but she usually took an indirect and subtle way towards its attainment. She even tried to hide from herself the real tendency of her actions and words. To-day she would not say simply to herself: "Monsieur Gustave will seek me where he saw me last night," and yet she laughed as she thought how pleasant the sight OLD PLAYFELLOWS H of him would be between the still leafy chestnut y ■ ighs. At that noment, however Gustave Chauvin V. .s standing beside bis benefactress's writing- table. Ka called Madame de Vougay aunt, although there was no real kinship between them. The Marquise's fair, usually placid face was puckered with trouble ; but the creases smoothed a little while she listened to her young adviser, vho stood with bent head on the opposite side of tht table. He was tall and bread-shouldered ; but he had no spare flesh about him. One could see his legs and arms were thin ; his hands, too, were slender and nervous, and there were hollows in his cheeks; but these seemed to match so well with his dark, deeply-sunk eyes, that they only made a natural feature in hi:> thoughtful face. His hair was beauti- ful, deep brown in colour ; it crossed his broad fore- head in sculpturesque waves full of light and shade. Gustave Chauvin was, perhaps, not handsome; but •!l M I' I !" t I' .. 1,1' Hi w I, I : ' is «'!1 76 THE HAUNTED FOUNTA/N he was far less plain than he had been as a boy. The irresolute look had left his face; it was, indeed, full of power, and yet the expression on it just now was so sweet that Madame de Vougay found rest for her anxiety while she looked at him. ."You deprecate my plan, then," she said. " Pardon me, I only try to show you its drawbacks ; but I am not sure that you ought to listen to such a hermit as I am, dear Madame; I know nothing of society or of the world in that sense, and no doubt my ideas about marriage are rural and romarttic." "I am afraid so," she sighed, "but, Gustave, I fancy Lucien may make a good husband even though he does take a wife to — to " " To pay his debts," Gustave laughed. ** I hope so. I believe good women are so good that when they love they will excuse all sorts of errors in the man they love. My fear is that it may be difficult to get Lucien to consent ; and even if he does this, will he take the trouble to win a wife ? " i . OLD PLAYFELLOWS n Madame de Vougay sat up rather stiffly. " I fancy he need not take much trouble about that, Gustave." The young man bowed. It was only about the second time in his life that the Marquise had made him feel he was not her son, and it increased the dislike he had for some time felt for his cousin Lucien's conduct. There was little sympathy between the young men ; but Lucien always be- haved to his cousin with kindness in which Gustave's sensitiveness fancied there was a good deal of pity. In their boyhood they had been schoolfellows, and Gustave had often helped to shield Lucien from the consequences of his follies ; but since his cousin's return from Russia, Gustave had avoided him as much as possible. He knew that, in spite of all the sacrifices made by his mother, Lucien was deeply in debt, and yet his extravagances seemed worse than ever. At last a crisis had come, and Lucien's man of business had told him he must find some way i,:;i 7S THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN I 1 I II ,% i! B i " iiili. i % 1 I 11' li ! of paying his debts, and Lucien had gone to his cousin, who was in Paris, and had asked him to break the bad news to the Marquise. " Yes," she said, when she found that Gustavo did not answer. " My old friend, Madame de Lanmeur, will be charmed with the idea ; indeed, we talked of it when the children were young. Lucien is six-and-twenty, and Adelaide is seven- teen ; her fortune is even now very large — it will be enormous — she will be a sweet rosebud of a daughter, and I shall devote myself to her happiness." Gustave turned away to one of the windows ; these were set so high up that from the middle of the room the park could not be seen. He knew that his face was not in sympathy with this marriage project ; and he could hardly keep from sighing at the idea of this innocent child of seventeen sacrificed to the selfish profligate he felt sure his cousin was. Just now, in his extreme indignation at the sorrow and vexation OLD PLAYFELLOWS 79 which Lucien had brought into his mother's life, Gustave thought very hardly of him. " You are anxious to explore your old haunts^ I see,'* Madame de Vougay said ; " 1 too shall be engaged presently, so I bid you au revoir" Last night, on arriving, Gustave had passed near the house in the wood, and he had seen that it was inhabited ; but when he met the garde, and asked the nearest way to the Chateau, Baptiste had not made himself known to Monsieur Chauvin, and Gustave had not guessed that the female figure half hidden by the trees was Liline. When he reached the Chateau and told his aunt of Lucien's difficulties, Madame de Vougay's distress had completely absorbed Gustave, and he had lain awake planning how best she could be spared vexation. No one who saw the calm, self-controlled face with which he met her in the morning, could have guessed the deep and active sympathy he felt. He had iiot had time to remember Liline Vivier. I ' ' * ll ' li 1 1 ii K ll 1 H ' 111 ul'' 8o THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN It was a great relief to find himself out in the fresh pure air, with the thick, soft grass underfoot and the fading leaves overhead. Where he now was, the park had become a forest, with leaves above and brambles and underwood crossing his path. "The wood has surely grown very much thicker in ten years,** he thought. Etienne, the steward, in answer to his inquiries about his old playfellow, had told him of Liline Vivier's return, and added that she now lived at the house in the wood with her father; but the news did not suggest to Gustave that he had seen the father and daughter overnight. He laughed to himself as he recalled his former liking lor Liline. He went on among the trees, thinking ot Lucien's marriage. He could not picture Lucien as a husband, and on the whole he pitied him. Even at six and-twenty, Gustave thought it was very hnr 1 for n mm to <,n've up his liberty — as he OLD PLAYFELLOWS •» had told his aunt, his ideas of marrki^ were romantic. If he took a wife he should feel bound to live for her and to try to make her happy ; and he could not believe that a woman could be half so good a friend as a man could. Gustave knew a few men who dearly loved him, and whose lives he had helped to steer by his sensible example ; but hitherto he had not found the ideal friend he longed for. His most intimate acquaintance so far was a woman, Madame de Vougay, his so-called aunt ; but he dared not let her see all his ideas), they would only have puzzled or troubled her. By the time he was forty, Gustave thought, he might be able to marry, and then Well, he should find some one much younger than he was, and with whom he should be perfectly content. Certainly he should not take a wife for any other reason than because he liked her. Here his thoughts were interrupted ; he caught hif foo; m 4 langle of bramble, and if he had 8s THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN I •' ^ij m I ■ \l not adroitly flung himself back^ he must have fallen. While he stood freeing himself, he saw a pale glimmer among the tree trunks some way before him. He looked attentively, and he made out that it must be the skirt of a woman's gown that now showed, like a pale glory, beyond the gray tree trunks. It suddenly flashed upon him that it was per- haps Liline ; the woman, whoever she was, stood still. Gustave plunged forward, and he saw her. Only her gown was in light; the shadow of a round straw hat fell deeply over her eyes and the upper part of her face ; but it did not reach the bright lips, parted in expectation. But neither light nor shade could add to the grace of Liline's attitude as she stood under a tree, her pretty head bent a little forward as she listened to the coming footsteps. Gustave's pale face flushed as he reached her. Had he thought easily of renewing his old acquaint- OLD PLAYFELLOWS 83 ance with the forest-keeper's daughter ; but now the sight of so much beauty fluttered him, he was stirred out of his usual calm, almost unwilling to speak. He pulled ofif his hat and Liline bowed. She had seen him coming for several minutes, and she was not as much disturbed as he was, though it was a new and altogether delightful experience to find herself face to face and alone with a gentle- man. She felt a thrill of excitement. " You are Liline Vivier, are you not ? " Gustave said. "Ah, you have forgotten your old playfellow — I am Gustave Chauvin ; now do you remember me ? " » It jarred him to see this refined-looking creature droop her eyes with a commonplace simper. He did not know how disconcerting his own eyes were — how very plainly they told her his admiration. '* Yes, I remember you, monsieur." The lovely pink of her cheeks deepened, and she spoke softly and shyly. ** It must not be monsieur and mademoiselle k ; i; :! i ,.^ I M 1 I.I 14 THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN between u£, Liline/* then he hesitated. How could he dictate to this beautiful creature, ^o for aught he knew had admirers in plenty, and who very likely cared nothing about seeing him again ? "I mean/' he went on, " that ! hope we are going to be friends, and that you will allow me the privileges of a very old acquaintance." She looked up ; her eyes were so full of arch amusement that he laughed. Liline joined him in his laughter, and they stood laughing merrily over their childish memories for a minute or two. Then she stole a look at him which gave him courage — there was such evident satisfaction in her golden-brown eyes. "Which way are you going?" he said presently. "I will walk with you if I may." She laughed again ; then she looked grave. "I am going to the Chateau. At present I am Madame's secretary ; but," she glanced archly aX. him, "I have orders to keep out of the way of v^J'tor^.** H^ Aiii^ged ills shoulders and smiled; but OLD PLAYFELLOWS «5 he placed himself beside her, and began to walk in the direction of the Chateau. "I am not a visitor, Liline, I am only here on business." She shook her head. "Well," he went on, "I will leave you before we come in sight of the Chateau, will that satisfy you ? Do you go there every day ? " She nodded and smiled at him. She enjoyed his admiration so much that she did not care to disturb it by words, and they walked some way in silence — his eyes fixed on her lovely face ; but her eyes drooped again. She was evidently pleased, he thought, to have him beside her, and she was looking more beautiful in thi.^ moment of triumph than she had ever looked be^ ^re. There was a good deal of natural pl< ure in Liline's feelings. It was so nice, she th ight, that Monsieur Chauvin had not forgottp those old days, and she felt really glad and happy to see him again. " Had you not forgotten me ? " she said at last. 86 THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN ■\.\}\ I V 'I' The smile she gave him delighted Gustave. He had never seen so lovely a creature, and he felt the power of her fascination, a power which every moment he was teaching her to realise. Just then she gave him another glance, half arch, half coy ; it utterly bewildered him. *' How could I forget you ?" he said. " Did you guess who I was just now .?" she said. •* You cor.ld not have recognised me. Why, it is ten years since I saw you." " Ah ! J wonder how it was I knew you," he smiled at her with delight. " You are not the same, you know ; the pretty child has changed into a charming girl, and yet even now I see the sweet child Liline looki* g out at your eyes at me." His cheeks glowed, and Liline blushed at his warm praise. *' I was a very naughty child, I sm afraid : I feel ashamed of those days." She looked up, her eyes full of sweet humilit}% as if she wished to ask his forgiveness for the childish wrones she had done him. ' \ OLD PLAYFELLOWS «7 Gustave felt like a boy again — ^he seemed trans- formed — but, as he looked round, he saw they had reached the edge of the wood, and he stopped. " I will leave you here. I am going to see Monsieur fidouin,'* he said. "I suppose there is no change at the Presbytery." Liline's smile faded. "Yes," she said, "you will find one great change. There is a new housekeeper — dear old Marguerite is dead — the new one is called Fran^oise, and she is devote. Ah, mon Dieu ! " she clasped her hands and turned up her eyes, " she is stiff as a stick — she likes to lecture me., She is not to be com- pared to dear old, kind Marguerite. Do you remember the bonbons she used to give us?" " Yes." He could not contradict Liline when she looked up at him in that way ; but it seemed to Gustave that the old housekeeper was not to be regretted ; she had been in his opinion, with all her kindnegs, a chattering and slovenly old woman. He put out his hand and held Liline's while he II i.l ^m.. I; 11 I,' U i'l ! ' H f//^ tiAuMTEt) ifoVkTAiN spoke. " I shall not say Good-bye. I shall meet you on your way home, sweet friend. What time do you leaive ? " She looked grave, almost sad, he thought " My father is coming to fetch me," she said. ** That was my father you met last night. You had no eyes for me then, though I was close by," she said, teasingly. " Forojive me. Was that your father ? Well, I must try to improve my acquaintance with him. But you were not with him. Ah, naughty girl, you know, if you had been there, I must have seen you. Au revoir" Tb4^y v arted, and Liline began to cross the open part of the park towards the Ch^eau. Instead of going on to the village, Gustave hid himself behind a tree, so that he could watch her unobserved. His aunt's troubles, and Lucien's proposed marriage were forgotten. Gustave had entered into that rose-coioured country, which many people traverse ; but which some among them have learned to call Mirage. CHAPTER VII. A PROPOSAL. ^USTAVE stood waiting under the chesi- nut-tree where he had first met Liline. The young feUow had changed, in this short week, as much as the bougies overhead had changed ; but while they had lost brightness — for the fierce autu-mn wind had stripped away the withered leaves, artd had left only a few green ones, that drooped timidly, as if ashamed of their loneliness — Gustave Chauvin seemed to have more of spring joy in him than of autumn pensiveness. He looked full of health, and life, and happiness. In his outlook on life, during those solitary years when he had only himself to commune with, Gustave had decided that most of a man's day- dreams must prove fallacious, must be regarded as ^ THE HAUm-ED EOUNTAIN the mere pastime of youth, and that their fulfil- ment could not be looked for. And so he had yielded up the hope, fondly cherished in boyhood, of coming back to Vougay, and claim- ing Liline for his wife. More than once the Marquise had asked him to take rest and change in the old place ; but at that time he had refused the kindly-meant offer. He did not know what had become of Liline, but he had determined not to risk the chance of seeing her again till he could fulfil his promise. This hope, too, had long ago taken its place among his day dreams. Gustave's ideal of life had risen; his horizon had mounted with his success, and he felt that some years must pass before he could establish himself in such a home as he now wished for. And Liline was perhaps already married ; certainly, if she had grown up according to her childish promise of beauty, she would marry long before he could lay claim to her. He had been hurried down to Vougay on A PROPOSAL 9J Lucien's business, and without any purpose of seeking Liline Vivier; it must even be confessed that, on the morning after his arrival when he questioned fltienne as to what had become of her, he learned, with almost a shock, that she was living in the house in the wood with her father. Gustave knew nothing about the changes that had happened, and it seemed to him sad that so beautiful and refined a creature as the Liline he had fondly dreamed about should have been left to grow up in this sort of savage solitude. She could only be a mere peasant, he thought. Ltienne, however, asked Monsieur Chauvin it he had not seen the girl while she lived in Paris with the Marquise. And at this news Gustave had received a fresh shock. Liline, he thought, would have grown up more safely in the woods than in such a city as Paris. But the sight of her had effaced all doubts and fears. Gustave Chauvin, who usually considered IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1^ ui ■"IS 2.0 1^ ■ 40 m 1-25 1 1.4 1.6 < 6" 1* Va vl 7 ■•>« Hiotographic Sciences Corporation ^N^ •s? :\ \ ;\ 23 WIST MAIN STMIT WHSTIR,N,Y. MStO (716) •72-4S03 ^ Tti£ tiAUNTMD FOUNTAIN :i li r all sides of a subject before he allowed himself to form an opinion thereon, had yielded himself up unresistingly to the sweet magic of Liline's beauty He told himself, the first day, that he was delighted to find his old playfellow just as he had expected to find her ; and since then he had given up any reflection on his feelings — he had simply lived in them. He now met Liline every morning on her way to the Ch&teau ; and more than once in the evening she had stopped writing and had left the Chateau rather earlier so as to get a few minutes with him before her father joined her. Gustave shrank from meeting Baptiste ; he had gone to see the garde, and he had not met with an encouraging welcome. This, however, did not surprise the young fellow, and he respected Baptiste for his coldness towards him ; it showed him that the girl had a careful guardian. Gustave was, as he had told Madame de Vougay, eccentric and romantic in his idea of marriage ; he A PROPOSAL 93 wished to have a wife who would love him for himself, and his old determination to win Liline had become stronger than ever. But, day by day as they met, Gustave found it more difficult to approach the subject of love. Liline was so gay, so playful in her talk, that he shrank from speak- ing earnestly lest he should weary the bright butterfly-like maiden. He must be patient, he thought, and the opportunity would come ; but he resolved not to leave Chateau Vougay without winning her consent to become his wife. It seemed to him that it would be unwise to let Baptiste suspect his intentions, the forest- keeper would be sure in some way or other to warn his daughter, and Gustave was anxious not to provoke a quarrel between Liline and her father. It was not wonderful, he thought, that the sweet girl shrank a little from Baptiste; he was so rough, and so blunt — a good, honest fellow, doubtless, but not a suitable companion for such a precious creature as Liline, Gustave determined not tQ 94 THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN ! i speak of his love, either to the Marquise or to Baptiste, until Liline had promised to be his wife. But all this prudence and patience had to- day been upset ; in their place was only a burning impatience that tortured him as he stood waiting under the tree for Liline. She was much later than usual ; it was growing dark, and every moment he expected to hear Baptiste's heavy, crunching tread over the fallen leaves and twigs. The post only reached Vougay at midday, and it had brought news that Lucien might be expected any day at the Ch&teau. The Marquis wrote that he accepted his mother's proposal, and was willing to accompany her to Chateau Plou- anic. It was this news that had so excited Gustavo. He resolved to betroth himself to Liline before Lucien's arrival. Lucien would respect his cousin's promised wife, but Gustave felt that Liline would not be safe from his cousin if Lucien A PROPOSAL 95 regarded her only as Baptiste Vivier's daughter. Even Lucien's own approaching marriage would not prevent his free admiration of Liline's singular beauty. As Gustave pondered all this, it seemed to him a special Providence that had brought Baptiste back to claim his daughter from the Marquise while Lucien was absent from Paris. At last he saw her light dress in the dim distance. He went a little way to meet her but he did not venture far beyond the shelter of the trees. For Liline*s sake it was better that his meetings with her should remain a secret. " You are late, sweetheart," he said, tenderly, as she came up to him. The new tone in his voice struck Liline ; she gave him an inquiring look. "Your aunt had to write letters,'* she said, "and she could not dictate so early as usual. Ah, I am so weary of it, my fingers ache." She let him take her ungloved hand and press it in his. Suddenly he kissed it — the touch I ^1' I I ; I 96 THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN of his burning lips startkd her. She drew her hand away. " You may not do that/* she said, " it is not permitted." She drew up her shght figure till she looked as dignified as the Marquise herself. Gustave bent over her. "Pardon me, but you will permit it," he whispered, " everything is permitted to a husband ; and you will be my wife, will you not, dearest child ? Liline, you know how I love you — love is no word to express the feelings I have for you." She looked at him in wondering silence ; then under his glowing eyes she blushed and bung her head. But Gustave did not want words ; it was enough for him that she suffered him to take her hand and kiss it as passionately as he pleased, while he poured out the story of his love and of his hopes, cherished since he had parted from her in boy- hood. He paused at last, and Liiine fluently drew her hand awa> A PROPOSAL 97 She looked up at him and shook her head, and he saw tears in her eyes. "You go too fast" she said, sadly. "Ah, you will never get the Marquise to consent, or my father either, and you cannot marry me without their good -will." " I have only two years to wait." He spoke in a strong, hopeful voice ; Liline sighed heavily. His proposal had seemed at first to offer a joyful escape from the life she hated, and she had been ready to consent. Now a cloud fell over her fair face. " Two years is a long time," she said, thought- fully. He tried to regain possession of her hand, but she drew back. Her mood had changed. " My darling, I will be frank with you ; " the fondness in his voice touched her. '* I will be entirely frank with you. If I married you now we should have to live in two rooms, and I could not afford you the comforts or the pleasures 98 THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN 1 that every loving husband likes his wife to enjoy. But in two years, or it may be sooner, I shall obtain a post which will double my income, and which will open out to me sources of profit which at present I do not possess. I am sure your father would give you to me. Will you wait for me, Liline? Will you sav 'Gustave, I will be your wife'?'* Her face had cleared a good deal while she listened, and when she looked at him again she was dry-eyed — still there was some trouble left in her face. " Say yes, my darling," he said, and in spite of her unwillingness he caught her hand. "Hark!" She raised her free hand^ and Gustave heard Baptiste's footsteps. "Your father. Well, let him come/' he said, boldly, with a glad look in his eyes. His fearlessness impressed her. She thought he was almost handsome ; still she had to be prudent tor them both. "Dear Gustave/' sne put up her lips so A PROPOSAL 99 caressingly that he could hardly keep from kissing her, " go, now, for my sake ; I will make all right with my father. Till to-morrow " "Good-bye, dearest," he said. She kissed her fingers to him as he disappeared among the trees. Then Liline went on to meet her father. Even in the dim light under the trees she could see how suspicious he looked. She slipped her hand under his arm and smiled in his face, but Baptiste did not smile in answer. " Did not I hear voices ? " he said, gruffly. Liline stooped to free her skirt from a briar arm. " I expect you did ; I heard voices somewhere in the wood." She darted a swift glance at him as she rose, and she thought he looked troubled. He did not speak again till they reached the house in the wood, then he stood still before he opened the door. "There is news to-day at the Chateau. Have you heard it, child ? " 100 TB£ HAUNTED FOUNTAIN ivtP fa v^ Mi II '. Liline was startled, it seemed so strange that Gustave should not have told her. "I have heard no news, father." Baptiste shrugged his shoulders. "Your mistress does not then put much con- fidence in you, child. Monsieur le Marquis is coming to Vougay; he may come any day." Liline frowned at the word "mistress/' but at the news itself, she flushed deeply, her spirits rose, she thrilled with joy. At last — at last, the great desire of her heart was to be accomplished ; she was going to see the Marquis again, and he would see her. Liline's head seemed to spin and her heart to stand still, in this ecstasy of anticipation. Ten minutes ago she had felt fond of Gustave Chauvin, and if he could have taken her at once from this hateful solitude, she would gladly have married him. Now, almost her first thought was one of self-gratulation that she had not promised herself to her old playfellow. A Si CHAPTER VIII. DISMISSED. iN some ways Liline was like her father. She had inherited, for instance, Baptiste's quiet power of observation, but she was less suspicious than he was, at the same time she had quicker perception. Baptiste doubted Monsieur Chauvin, and dis- trusted him; Liline believed fully in her lover's honesty of purpose, while she doubted his power to succeed in life. To be a gentleman and yet to live in two rooms, was a revelation that over- powered her with surprise. She longed to be a lady, it would give her keen pleasure to be able to treat Nathalie as her inferior; but in all ways Liline was a practical young woman. "There would be no use in calling myself a II lOl THE HAUNTED EOUNTAIN m m' ■' U m : I ii' i': i! 11 m lady," she thought, " unless I really was one ; and if I had to dress poorly and always go on foot, no one could find much difference between mc and Nathalie." She went further than this. That night, while she brushed out her rich auburn hair till it hung like a gleaming cloak round her white shoulders even in the poor light cast by the little lamp on her table, Liline mused over Gustave's pro- posal. At first she had been stupefied by surprise. It was wonderful that a man of his class should be willing to step down to her level, and then she remembered that things were altered in France. She liked him, oh yes, she liked him very much — her cheeks glowed warmly at the remem- brance of his looks and his kisses — and she looked at her pretty hand with pride, for no one but Mon- sieur Chauvin had ever kissed it. But then when she belonged to him and could see him every day, should she care for him so much? She had listened to him attentively, but he had not said she should be rich; he had promised her com torts and some DISMISSED 103 amusements; but Liline, in her visions of lady- hood, had seen jewels and beautiful dresses and a carriage. She wanted to be uplifted — lifted high above her present condition, to become visibly — undoubtedly, to all eyes "a lady." It would be a poor satisfaction only to feel that she had married a gentleman if she herself had to live as quietly as any mere workwoman did. Into these musings came the recollection of her father's news about the young Marquis's coming. How pleased he had seemed; it was plain that he thought more highly of Monsieur Lucien, than he did of Monsieur Chauvin. The girl dreamed all night of the young lord. She loitered over her breakfast, and kept her father chatting in the doorway. At last he said : " Good-bye, little one, I must go ; you are making me play truant." He, too, was in a cheerful mood. "We shall have our young lord round during his stay," he said, "so tell Marie Jeanne she had best be extra neat in her ways." '.'■i i;if m§^ &m m ^■:Km «i«i./,Jl, ■■'!'■ V I m'I'u' I i >! I io4 J^-fl"-^ HAUNTED FOUJ^TAW Liline's eyes sparkled. She had already decided she would not meet Gustave this morn- ing in the wood. She determined now to go to the Ch&teau by the beaten track she had followed on the first morning, and to enter by the great gates ; she had ever since gone by the path through the wood, and in by a small gate in the low gray wall that divided the Ch&teau and its courts from the Park. Nathalie had given her the key of a door at the foot of the winding staircase, so that she might come and go, without giving trouble to any one. This seeming trust on the part of Nathalie, had lulled the girl's doubts of her to sleep — in fact, she had scarcely seen the woman since the first day. Once or twice Nathalie had come in to the Marquise for instructions ; but as Liline always wrote at the table near the window, she had not turned her head. If she thought of Nathalie at all, it was with a feeling of relief that she did not see her, for she could not forget how spitefully the woman had watched her in Paris. DiSMlSSEi) io% Nathalie's * i^usy had made Lih'ne regard the H6tel de Voug^ay as a sort of prison, of which this dark-faced woman was jailor. To-day, as the girl crossed the court, her thoughts were full of the young lord. If she had fascinated Gustave, she asked herself, why should she not also fascinate Lucien, and then who could say what might happen } There was the Baron of Pourcel — Marie Jeanne had told her about his wife. Her father was a rich man in Paris, but no one knew from whence he came. Marie Jeanne said that this father had been a great money-lender, and that the new baroness was not a lady at all before she married the Baron of Pourcel. " I, at least, look like a lady," Liline thought, proudly J " any one can see the difference between me and a village girl. Well, we shall see." Her spirits seemed to dance with anticipation. The old mastiff did not rise up and come to meet her — he lay in the sunshine and growled as she passed by. Btienne was not visible, and ill m i : ■I I 1 -:: 1' io6 T/I£ HAUNTED FOUNTAIN she crossed the great hall and passed into the passage behind it without meeting a soul. Nathalie stood waiting for her at the end of the passage. There was a strange look in the woman's face. Liline shivered without knowing why ; she felt as if she had received a shock as she met Nathalie's eyes looking at her through their long, half-closed lids. " I want a word with you, child," the woman said, familiarly ; and, in Liline's present mood, her manner seemed insolent. " Well, what do you want?'* The girl looked back at her scornfully. Nathalie laughed maliciously. "You seem inclined to cast off old friends, Liline, because you have got a new one. You are foolish in every way; because the trees grow thickly, do you fancy no one sees through them, and do you also think that what a young man promises he is sure to perform? I say to you— take care.** DlSMlSSEt> iof She moved away and retreated into her mistress's room before the astonished girl could answer. Liline was greatly disturbed. It was not the warning that affected her, so much as the shock of finding that her movements were spied on. She wondered whether Madame de Vougay had set Nathalie to watch her. The suspicion made her tap at the door louder than it usually was. She found her patroness leaning back in an easy-chair. She was dressed in a loose cream- coloured silk gown, which suited well with her faded complexion and her blue eyes. Madame de Vougay usually nodded and smiled at Liline when she came in ; this morning she held out her hand, and as the girl bent respectfully over the delicate ivory -hued fingers, she patted Liline's sunny hair. " How fresh and bright you look, dear child ; you have brought in sunshine with you this chilly morning," toB THE HAUNTED EOUNTAIff lii* m m \\ '1 1" She looked so friendly, so full of kindness, that Liline felt ashamed of her suspicions; she was sure it was Nathalie's own malice that had tracked her and watched her meetings with Gustave Chauvin. The girl smiled as she sat down to her writing; she saw how unwise it was to feel annoyed by Nathalie's behaviour. Let her do her worst ; she could not harm her ; if she became Gustave's wife, the woman would have to call her " Madame." Ah, that would change everything. Instead of that touch of Madame la Marquise's fingers, or one of those rare kisses she had received, each time she met Madame de Vougay she should be received as an equal, a cousin, and kissed on both cheeks. The cheeks burned with pride, and these thoughts helped her through an hour of waiting, during which she had to write down a line or two at rare intervals ; but when the second hour began, Liline became weary and discon- tented. Her marriage with Gustave looked once more as gray and as uninviting as it had appeared DISMISSED 109 to her last night, and her under-lip drooped fretfully. Why should she pledge herself to him, and thus yield up any chance of better prospects ? There was no need of haste if he wanted her to wait two years. If she could only be seen, she was sure she could marry well. Suppose she did marry Gustave, and then found out that she could have had a rich, and, perhaps, a grand husband. "Monsieur Chauvin looks grand," she said, "but that does not make him so; it is the thing itself that I care for." At midday, instead of going out to walk on the terrace, Madame de Vougay came up to her secretary. "After this morning, dear child, I shall not require you. We must say •Good-bye.'*' She patted Liline's shoulder kindly. " You have been very useful to me, Liline, and you must take this as a token of my appreciation." She placed a little purse on the writing-table. " I had thought of giving you a dress or two ; but it seems to me ''4 i Is; :« H ;1 silP I'll i.vi '! I i '3 ■' IIO THE' HAUNTED FOUNTAIN you can have so little occasion for dress here, that money is more useful.'' Liline felt choked, the humiliation was in- tolerable ; it seemed to her that she was being sent away in disgrace, because Nathalie had told ta^es of her. "Madame," she raised her head, and forced herself to speak quietly, although her anger strove to get free, " pardon me, but I cannot take money from you. I have been so glad to help you for love, dear lady. Will you not do me the honour of accepting my poor services?" Madame de Vougay looked grave. She could not find fault with the girl's manner ; but it disappointed her to find Liline so wanting in tact. She instinctively blamed herself for having spoiled the girl, so that she had forego tten her real position. "I think you are unwise," she said, coldly; "if you do not need the money now, you can put it away, or it may be useful to your father.' u •V DISMISSED III Liline's anger had got loose; it flashed into her eyes. " Thank you, Madame," she said, " if I have really been useful, you will not wish to give me pain — a ribbon that you have worn, or a book that you have read will be treasured by me; but I cannot take money for such a slight service as I have rendered." Madame de Vougay was surprised, and she was also ruffled by this resistance ; at the same time, Liline's last speech had touched her. She looked round her. There lay on a table in the corner of the room a beautifully-bound volume of *' Hours " with a gold clasp. She crossed the room, looked lovingly at the book, and then came back and put it into Liline's hand. " I give you a very dear companion of mine," she said; "it is more suitable to you than one of my trinkets would be, and it will serve to remind you sometimes of me. Good-bye, Liline;" *1 t I' !, <1 4 li 113 7W:£ HAUNTED FOUNTAIN IflliB ' III 'J \ -11 I 'i'J ' « i I II 1 ! !» :i I lei: j She held out her hand, but she did not ofTet to kiss the girl. " Thank you, Madame, a hundred times." Liline was still passionately angry, for she thought the Marquise would have given her the little brooch she wore at her throat She lingered a moment, and then said : " Are you sending me away, Madame, for any fault ? " Madame de Vougay raised her eyebrows. " You should try not to be fanciful, Liline," she said, gravely. " I told you I wanted your help while I was alone. I am expecting a visitor, and, therefore, I shall be occupied. Good morn- ing, child." She walked away, feeling vexed with herself for having given so much explanation. She began to see that Nathalie was right. She had thought the woman jealous when she warned her mistress that Liline was spoiled and vain ; Madame de Vougay felt that it was her own DISMISSED "3 fault; she ought to have remembered that the terrible Republican spirit which had infected the whole nation, made it more than ever incumbent on nobles to maintain class distinctions in their immediate surroundings. Liline was beautiful, and she had a singular power of fascination, and she had, too, little dainty ways, which made her far more companionable than a servant could be; every one of these qualities, however, made her dangerous when she presumed on them. " Heavens ! " Madame de Vougay went into her dressing-room, and closed the door behind her. "Suppose I had let her come here during Lucien's visit!" She uttered a thankful ejaculation for such an escape ; and she determined to send the rejected purse of money to baptiste Vivier, to be applied by him to his daughter's benefit I' a '1 CHAPTER IX. THE MARQUIS. !HE days were shortening, and although the dinner-hour was early at Chateau Vougay, the long, bare dining-room had to be lighted before the meal began. Dinner was over now. The Marquise had gone to her room, and soft candle-light from the chande- lier fell on the white table-cloth, on the rich glow of the decanters, and the jewel-like fruit ; it also fell on the faces of Gustave Chauvin and his host. The servants had left the room ; there had been no sound for some minutes, except the click of a spoon in Gustave's coffee ; he was looking very grave, but his cousin was laughing heartily. Lucien de Vougay was singularly like his mother ; but he was like the middle-aged 11 THE MARQUIS "5 Marquise de Vougay, not the beautiful woman she had been at twenty-six years old. He was very pale and worn ; and his blond hair, his long, drooping moustache, and colourless blue eyes had also a worn and faded aspect ; there seemed to be no life in them. Something in his mobile lips con- tradicted this, and suggested a lively spirit within the exhausted appearance ; his small, expres- sive hands, and his well-set head, were full of life. "My dear fellow," he had taken his cigar from his lips while he laughed, "you look as shocked as though you were an Englishman. What in the name of wonder can my approaching marriage have to do with my pleasures?" Gustave did not seem disconcerted by his cousin's laughter. He was not smoking ; he sipped his coffee before he answered. " Then you have really made up your mind to marry Mademoiselle de Lanmeur ? '' Lucien shrugged his shoulders. *' What would H 3 ■41 r II \M m i ! !i!i (1 B« i •i 4' V. ifl6 r/ff HAUNTED FOUNTAIN you have me do ? My mother tells me there is no other way. She shows me on one side my debts, and on the other the photograph of a pretty little person — with a fortune large enough to float me for some years to come. Yes, I have consented to marry Adelaide de Lanmeur. I have no doubt I shall make an exemplary husband, and that my wife will adore me," he stroked his fair moustache. "I do not find women difficult, you know," he said, languidly. Gustave was silent. He took a finger biscuit from a blue Sevres compotier, and soaked it in his coffee. At that moment he wished his cousin Lucien were back in Paris; he felt a sudden dislike to the fair, handsome young fellow, and a strange warning sensation fell on him. " You are not lively, my friend ! " Lucien said, presently ; " be reasonable, cousin, and tell me of any chance of amusement in this benighted Breton hole. There must surely be a pretty girl of some sort in the village." THE MARQVIS ttf " 1 have not been to the village " " Ah, my veracious one, I have you fast ; as sure as the sun sets this evening, you went to mass on Sunday, and you must have had full leisure during the discourse of worthy Monsieur !&douin to 6nd out any good looks among our village maidens. Come, come. I insist on your experiences." " And I say I have none to give you," said Gustave, doggedly. " Even if I had *' he paused. " I say again what right has a man on the point of marriage to wish even to begin an intrigue with a village girl ? According to my notions such a pursuit is always unworthy of a gentleman ; but in your position it is an insult to the lady you think of marrying. Come, Lucien, come and finish your cigar on the terrace. You will find the air pleasant, I promise you." Lucien was greatly amused by his cousin's rebuke. His facile temper was not easily ruffled, although he had a way of revenging himself by bitter, stinging words. This castigation, however. ii8 TH^ HAUNTED FOUNTAIN E I * P ' fen/ fp J! he reserved for those whose good opinion he did not value. Gustave Chauvin had gauged his cousin's character truly, when he resolved not to be thoroughly intimate with Lucien. He had acted, unconsciously, on the principle of the old proverb : " Familiarity breeds contempt," and he had never received any obligation from the young Marquis ; he had given to Lucien much valuable time, and had helped him both at college and since his return from England. He therefore possessed the natural empire, which a calm, self-possessed man, who has learned worldly wisdom by having made his own way to an honourable position, holds over a care- less, light-hearted spendthrift; for, in spite of his sweet, easy temper, Lucien was often in scrapes, which made him still cling to his cousin's advice. " I will come, philosopher," he said, gaily. " I suppose you will lecture me even when my hair turns gray. Well, well ; one of these days you will over-shoot the mark in your wonderful discretion, THE MARQUIS 119 Gustave; you forget that you are not the only man here with eyes in his head. Now let us talk of those confounded creditors for a quarter of an hour — no more, be it understood, not a moment. Canaille I they do not deserve the honour of being discussed by their betters, my sweet mother would say. But you know as well as I do, Gustave, that in the next generation of Frenchmen, class dis- tinctions will hold a very small place. As it happens. Mademoiselle Adelaide is a lady; but money, in due proportion, be it understood, levels class distinctions for me." Gustave smiled ; but he thought there was truth in his cousin's words. At the same time he told himself it was better to marry an innocent village girl like Liline, than an over-educated, over- dressed Parisian, the daughter of a rich man who had, perhaps, worked his way up from sordid obscurity as a money-lender. "Well," he said, "you have to be thankful. It would have grieved my aunt sadly if you Ill I J2d 7-^^ tiAUNTED Pdt/NTAlI^ I r had not married in your own rank. Now about business." The changing tints on the trees had softened into a deep olive, above which a yellow sky, pale, except where dark gray lines crossed it, changed first into pale green, and then above to luminous gray. There was not a sound, except the harsh cry of the night-hawk in the woods, and this came only now and then. Here and there a vista opened in the dense olive masses of the wood, and showed soft gradations of colour between the grass and the trees, and the dim, far-off prospect veiled beneath tne pale sky. The beauty of the scene moved Gustave. It seemed a sort of profanation to be talking of debts, of money flung away on worthless pleasures, and the extortions of greedy money- lenders, in such sweet and peaceful surroundings ; but he listened and advised his cousin as best he could, while his thoughts kept straying to the house in the wood. Was Liline watching that exquisite sky, he wondered ? THE MARQUIS tti Lucien said at last, "Time is up." " Good night," he called out to his cousin as he left the terrace ; " there is no use in my playing host to you, you are more at home here than I am." He went into the house, and crossing the large, gloomy hall, he began to go up the broad staircase. It has been said that there was no outside gallery to the staircase; the door at the top of the stairs opened into a long corridor which branched out right and left, and was dimly lighted by candles placed in blackened sconces; at the mouth of the right-hand passage, Nathalie stood waiting with a lamp. Lucien guessed that she had brought him a message. " Does my mother want to see me, Nathalie .? " "Pardon me, Monseigneur, but Madame la Marquise says that she is tired, and she has j^one to bed. Madame sent me to ask if Monseigneur lid THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN ■ lir 'liilM has all he wants^ and if there is anything that can be done for him." Lucien had been only a boy when Nathalie came into his mother's service, and the grave-faced woman worshipped him. Lucien looked hard at her set face. As a boy he had often wondered whether this demure, silent woman, who flitted in and out of his mother's room like a ghost, was all that she seemed to be. "You can come with me and light my candles," he said. "I do not want Roger to- night, if he has put everything ready; go on first and light the candles, my good Nathalie." The candle-light was hardly needed, for as the door opened, a brisk flame of wood fire shone on the hearth, and glittered on the heavy silver candlesticks and the gold-topped toilet bottles on the dressing-table. The dark, carved bedstead and the wardrobes and massive chairs^ were entirely out of harmony with the rest of the THE MARQUIS M3 furniture, which had been hastily procured from Morlaix in honour of the young master's visit to his estates. Nathalie lit the four candles on the table. " Is that sufficient, Monseigneur ? " '' By no means," he laughed. " I see four on the chimney-shelf, and two on the table by the bed-side ; light them all if you please. Do not be stingy, Nathalie. I declined a public reception; therefore Vougay can well afford a few candles to welcome me with." Nathalie lit the candles and then she made him a deep curtsy. "You are truly welcome, my lord. I have the honour to wish you good night and pleasant dreams." She began to move backwards out of the room. "Stop a minute/' Lucien said, "you should give me something agreeable to dream about. Tell me, Nathalie, you have not lived all these years m THE HAUNTED POVNTAlN ., ; Ml ■■ I in Paris with your eyes shut — ^you ought to be a judge of beauty, eh ? " Nathalie shrugged her shoulders. "Pardon me, my lord," she said, demurely, " a face that seems pretty to me, might not suit your lordship's taste." She gave him a keen look out of her dark, half-closed eyes. Lucien was sleepy and tired after his long journey, but the effect of Nathalie's look was magical. He smiled, and stroked his fair moustache rapidly — he always did this when he was interested —and Nathalie understood the meaning of the action. " You can then show me something to admire/' he said ; " you mean to say there is a pretty face in Vougay. Tell me about it, and I shall see what I think of your taste." Nathalie looked stolid, and she shook her head. THE MARdUIS 125 " I fear, my lord, there is not one ; there are scarcely any girls in the village worth looking at." Lucien followed her as she again backed towards the door. "Listen. You kno. as well as I do, Nathalie, that there is a pretty face and figure hereabouts, which would give me pleasure." She started. Lucien laughed. "Pardon me, my lord, it is not I who have told your lordship this, it must have been some one else." Lucien laughed again heartily; then he flung himself into one of the tall, dark chairs. "Come here, Nathalie; tell me the name of this pearl of Vougay — make haste, I am dying of sleep. Where shall I find her, eh ? Tell me ; and then you can leave me to my dreams." " But, my lord, what have I said ? Pardon me, I do not think Madame la Marquise would approve of such an indiscretion on my part 126 THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN The girl is already vain, and your lordship's admiration would no doubt turn her head." " Peace ; do not be silly, Nathalie. Who says I shall admire her? She may not please my taste. I look at faces as if they were pictures, then I pass on and forget all about them, un- less but this girl need not know who I am. so tell me, my good woman, quickly." Nathalie still hesitated, she stood looking ai the dark carpeted floor. "Pardon me, my lord," she said at last, "I dare not do it. If you go to morrow to the cottage of the new garde champ^tre, Baptiste Vivier, you will find out from him all you want to know, and you need not ask questions either. My lord, I humbly ask your permission to retire." CHAPTER X. A WISH FULFILLED. 'APTISTE VIVIER had said Good-bye to Liline ; his gun was on his shoulder and he was in the act of leaving the house in the wood. " Baptiste Vivier, hold ! Baptiste," came from among the trees at the back of the house. Baptiste listened a moment. " It is the young lord/' he said to Liline, and he went quickly round the corner of the dwelling. Liline stood in the doorway. She was vexed to be taken at unawares, for her gown had lost its trim freshness, and she did not know whether her hair was well arranged. She had not even glanced at her mirror since breakfast ; and now, if she was to try and get even a peep at herself, she might miss 138 THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN 'A:.i Monsieur Lucien. Was it possible, she asked her- self, that she was at last going to see him again ? The girl's cheeks burned^ and her fingers grew cold, as she stood waiting. She glanced down at her feet. Thank Heaven, she had on her neat walking shoes : she had always put them on to go to the Chateau, and without thinking that she did not need them, she had put them on this morning also. She had intended to change her gown later in the day, for she had fancied that Monsieur le Marquis would not come so early. But after all her father might be mistaken in the voice. Liline looked very lovely, as she stood in the morning sunshine, partly shadowed by the huge chestnut-trees. Her skin was so daintily fair, her soft, rounded chin, and firm, cream-tinted throat had a freshness only to be equalled by the fine, blue- veined temples, and the little pink ears, just now so flushed with excitement, that the delicate skin behind them looked almost white against her ^ich auburn hair. If she had ^one to her mirror, A WISH FULFILLED 129 Lilme would, perhaps, have brushed aside some of the glorious confusion in which this hair had massed itself above her low forehead. The hair itself was not especially fine, and was therefore rebellious, and as the sunshine fell on it, a bright golden ripple showed among the auburn waves. A sudden sound parted her full red lips, and the pretty teeth showed within. Voice and foot- steps were close by. The Marquis was coming, then. Her heart beat strongly, and she felt vexed at her own want of composure. She had dropped her eyes as she met Monsieur Lucien's fixed gaze, and she could not look up while she listened. "Good morning, mademoiselle," he said, politely, "your father tells me our woods are not new to you." Liline looked up. She was disappointed to find that Monsieur Lucien was not admiring her as she expected ; he had already turned to her tatner, ""Vea^ monsieur/' she said. lit.: 130 TNE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN But Lucien took no further notice of her. " You two live here alone, I suppose," he said to Baptiste ; " it is lonely for your daughter when you are away." " Pardon, Monsieur le Marquis, she is not alone, a woman from the village comes every day to do the house-work." " Ah, that is well. I wonder if you could spare the woman to take a message for me to Monsieur fidouin.-' " Certainly, my lord/' Baptiste's rugged face beamed with delight. His new master had praised all his arrangements ; he had approved of a new plantation, which the steward had condemned, and the garde had felt strengthened in his good opinion of his master when he saw that, although Monsieur Lucien's first look at Liline had been full of admiration, yet he had refrained from staring at the girl, or paying her any compliment on her beauty. Baptiste went to the door and called for Mane Jeanne. A WISH FULFILLED 131 The coarse-faced Breton woman came clatter- ing through the house in her wooden shoes. She was trembling all over with fear at the unexpected honour of being brought face to face with Monsieur le Marquis. Lucien looked at her with disgust, and turned away, and in truth, her harsh features, and sad expression, and the dull stare in her black eyes, repelled him. " Tell her," he spoke to Baptiste, " to go to the Presbytery, and to say that I hope Monsieur le Cur^ will do me the honour of dining to-day at the Chateau. Thank you, my man," when Baptiste had repeated his message. " Now I will go with you. Au revoivy mademoiselle." He raised his hat to Liline, and then led the way into the park. " Is that our young lord ? " said Marie Jeanne ; "but he is not near so fine a man as his father was. Do you not think," she said, slily, ** that Monsieur Chauvin has a more lordly air ? " Liline had stood in stupefied silence. The I a 133 THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN ■t ■' ■(. I'] ■■'»■ , I B :liV., cunning expression in the woman's face roused her wits. "II" she spoke, haughtily. « What should I know about a gentleman's looks? — instead of chattering you should mind your own business, Marie Jeanne. Go to the Presbytery at once and give Monsieur fidouin the message — and then — well, you can see if that chicken of your grandmother's is ready to kill ; she said I was to have it." Marie Jeanne gave a grunt of assent, and turned to depart. Liline went on to her own room ; she wanted to be alone ; she had begun to suspect that Marie Jeanne watched her, and this morning she could not bear a witness to her mortification. Very soon she heard the clatter of the wooden shoes on the door-stone, and then the heavy thud, thud, as Marie Jeanne trudged off to the Presbytery. " Thank Heaven I I am safe for two hours at least." A WISH FULFILLED «3S Liline sat down in a little easy* chair, a gift from her patroness, and began to cry. It was all over, then. For so many years she had looked forward to this meeting, and now she had seen the idol of her dreams and he had de- spised her. He had not bestowed the notice on her which he would have given to a pretty child, for she had learned from Nathalie how keenly Mon- sieur le Marquis admired beauty. "It was this hateful rumpled gown that dis- gusted him," she sobbed. "Ah, if only I had had sense enough to keep out of sight." She had covered her eyes with her hands. Now she drew away her right hand to seek her handkerchief, for the tears had streamed over her face. The room had grown darker, she fancied. "Ah!" she cried in alarm. She saw a face pressed against the window. The next minute she smiled, for she recognised Mons eur Lucien. She had scarcely time to wipe her eyes before he tapped at the door of her room. *' Come in." she said. She would not go to the iU THE HAUNTED POVNTAlN fir r Mi door lest he should think her too much pleased by the honour of his visit. Lucien opened the door. He stood a minute on the threshold of the room admiring the dainty neatness of its arrangements. Liline had risen at his entrance. She curtsied, but she did not speak. He bowed to her. ** I fear I have disturbed you," he said, kindiy. " The truth is, I felt bound to apologise for leaving you so hurriedly; but I was unwilling to keep your father waiting. I thought, perhaps, now, I might come in and rest a moment on my way to the Chateau." At this Liline opened her bright eyes widely. What could he mean ? Why, he had hardly been gone twenty minutes ; he could not need rest. She, however, pushed a chair towards him, and asked him to sit down. " Thank you," he said ; " but you must go back to your seat, or I shall feel that I have dis- turbed you. I fear I did, eh ? »> lij. A Wish fulfilled 135 He laughed and looked so mischievous that Liline laughed too. " Ah, I am glad to see you laugh," Lucien went on. "You were looking sad enough just now." Liline's deep blush made him inquisitive. " What was the matter, eh ? " he said. " I — I " she stammered. " It is dull here, my lord.' » "Of course it is dull; a charming girl like you wants to be seen and to receive the admiration due to her. I cannot fancy what your father is thinking of to shut you up here.'' Liline did not answer; she was delighted. When Monsieur Gustave had talked to her about his love, he had not told her she was beautiful — his eyes perhaps had said so, but it was more delightful to be assured in words. As she gave a sudden upward glance, she saw that Monsieur Lucien's eyes were idstened on her blushing face with undisguised admiration. He rose from his chair and came closer to her. 156 rifE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN "You are a jewel, worthy of a better setting," he said. **I must talk to your father; it would pain me to think of you passing your life here when I leave Vougay. At what time does your father come in?" "At dusk, my lord." Liline's delight overpowered her. She fancied the Marquis was going to tell her father to place her in Paris, or, at any rate, some- where less out of the world than this wood — which now seemed to her no better than a tcmb. "Father is selfish," she said, and the anger she felt made her natural and unconstrained. '* Father would sacrifice me altogether just to have me with him." Lucien's eyes sparkled ; he was stroking his moustache with rapid fingers ; undoubtedly the girl was very lovely, but he was not quite sure that her innocence was as genuine as iw appeared to be. "Ah," he said, slowly, "that is a pity. It is natural, of course, that he likes to keep you with him — who would not i* — but he must not forget that others also like to look at you." \k A WISH FULFILLED m Lucien's eyes were not pale now; the pupils had dilated, and the eyes themselves had deepened in colour as he kept them fixed on Liline's changing face. She sat quite still. She had read in one of Nathalie's novels that a calm, reposeful manner was lady-like, and also that it gave an especial charm to beauty. Liline had never been timid, and her intercourse with Gustave had given her self-confidence ; her freedom from common- place flutter captivated Lucien's cultivated taste. It was rare, he thought, to meet with so much freshness and so much reticence in a young girl. He felt very inquisitive about Liline. " You lived here as a child, I believe." "Yes, Monsieur le Marquis." She looked at him, and he felt how fascinating she was. "And then — what happened after? I am sure, Liline, you have not been brought up in this cottage — that is impossible." Liline was puzzled ; how was it, she wondered, that he did not know as Gustave did that she «3« Ttllt tJAV.\ TED ^OV.^TAW ■Hi had spent two years at the H6tel de Voufjay? Well, he could not always remain ignorant of it ; so, she had better tell him. "I lived, my lord, with my aunt in Rouen, and then I was with Madame la Marquise, at the II6tel de Vougay, till my father left the army." " Really ! " Lucien's eyes sparkled. He understood Nathalie's words ; and although, after a fashion, he loved his mother, it amused him after all her care to be able to circumvent her, and to have discovered this little pastime for himself " By- the-bye," he said, as a sudden thought came to him, **you know my cousin, Gustave Chauvin, I fancy?" Liline fell into the trap. She guessed that her lover had spoken of her to the Marquis, and she wondered at it. Gustave could not be so very much in love, or he would be anxious to keep her to himself "I have seen Monsieur Chauvin." She tried to speak carelessly ; but he saw the effort she made. A WiSit FULFILLED ii^ '' Ah," he said ; " does he visit you here, oi ivhen do you see him?" Liline could not look up, she fe?,red to betray herself; she did not know that her chang- ing colour had already betrayed her intiniacy with Monsieur Chauvin. " I have met him in the wood, my lord. No, he has never come to see me ; I — I did not ask him." Lucien felt inclined to laugh. The position was clear to him, and there need be no scruple on his part about supplanting his cousin. Liline evidently did not care for Gustave, and she liked to listen to him. Still, he did not feel sure how far he dared go with her; she might repeat all he said to her to his cousin. " Well," he said, " I am rested ; now T am going. I should like to stay; I should like to spend the day here, Liline. Would it bore you, I wonder ? " She laughed and looked up with a bright t sauciness that made her 'very tempting. " You would get tired, my lord," she said. 140 THE HAVNTED FOUNTAIN W f V {• H He took her hand and held it. '' I do not say I should stop at looks, my sweet child. I might, perhaps, ask for a kiss by way of refreshment." Liline pulled her hand away, and drew herself up. ** Oh, you need not look so scornful, mademoiselle. You have no right to distract a poor fellow with your beauty till he hardly knows what he is saying. Well, then, at least you will say ' au revoir, Lucien ; ' and you will send Marie Jeanne on an errand, or, better still, give her a holiday to-morrow." He kissed both his hands to her, and then he went out. As he passed the window he looked in. Liline was standing near, evidently in the hope of catching another glimpse of him. Lucien smiled and raised his hat *' Poor little bird," he said ; " she does not like dulness, nor sober-r'ded young men. Well, I must endeavour to give her all she wishes for. Meanwhile, if I judge her rightly, she will not chatter about my visit." ii' ' I. CHAPTER XL A REPULSE. |N the day after the meeting between Monsieur Lucien and Liline, Gustave Chauvin felt troubled and restless. He had spent some hours yesterday, and again this morning, watching and waiting for Liline ; but he could not get a glimpse of her. He longed to go to the cottage to satisfy himself that she was well ; but she had already asked him not to come then «^cause of Marie Jeanne, and he shrank from exposing her to this woman's gossip. He had guessed that Madame de Vougay had dismissed Liline from the Ch&teau because she ex- pected Lucien, and he thought his aunt was right. At midday Madame de Vougay sent for Gustavei She and Lucien were to go over next 142 THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN i *• day to Plou-anic, Madame de Lanmeur's chateau, so that Lucien might become acquainted with Mademoiselle de Lanmeur. " If all goes as I hope," she said to Gustave, " we shall, perhaps, stay a fortnight. I shall ask you, my good Gustave, to return to Paris and settle Lucien's debts. It will be better, I fancy, for Monsieur DupOiit to come to Plou-anic, so that he may confer with the notary of Madame de Lanmeur. But I am going too fast ; all this depends on our young people, and they may not care to marry." " Lucien seems willing enough," Gustave sighed. He still pitied Adelaide de Lanmeur. "You must remember that he has not seen Mademoiselle de Lanmeur. Well, I shall not be long in finding out whether my hopes are to be realised. This is Wednesday; perhaps on Friday I shall send a messenger over with a note to tell you * yes ' or ' no.* Ah, my Gustave, if you continue to progress as you have done, i,i« A REPULSE U3 you will be asking me l .ore long to find you a wife." " Thank you, dear aunt," he said, gaily. " I shall not give you so much trouble ; I shall^ perhaps, find one myself.'* She shook her head. "That is always a mistake, my friend ; a man cannot judge as a woman can, whether a girl has good qualities for a wife, remember that always. Now I must go to Nathalie, and tell her to pack for our journey. Plou-anic is after all only a drive of three hours from Vougay. If all is happily arranged, you will, perhaps, join us when you come back from Paris." Gustave bowed ; he felt sorry not to confide fully in this kind friend ; and, when she left him, he started for a walk. With all his outward self- control he was sensitive and impressionable, and he could not shake off an inward warning of coming misfortune. This depression seemed to increase when he 144 THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN %.■ m reached a lonely heath, strewn with huge blocks of gray stone, on the confines of the park. The dreary, weird solitude was more than he could bear, and he turned again into the park by its furthest entrance. An importunate whisper had kept on telling him that then, even at that very moment, Liline was in some danger. It was beginning to grow dusk as he advanced more deeply into the shadows of the trees. He stopped; the pain at his heart caused by this constant harass and uncertainty was unbearable. "If I go to the house in the wood," he said, "Baptiste will probably be at home. I have nothing to be ashamed of; my intentions are honest, and he will believe me. At any rate, I shall satisfy myself that all is well with the sweet child, and I shall see her." He quickened his steps. He was longing to see Liline. He had keenly felt these two days of separation, and he recalled the sweet, yielding glance she had given him just A REPULSE 145 before they parted. The longing presently over- powered him, and he wondered how he had endured the suspense of these hours. He believed that if Baptiste's approach had not scared Liline, she would have promised to become his wife. He was near the cottage when he saw a figure among the trees. It was a man; but he had thrown something over his shoulders^ and his head was bent. " Some friend of Baptiste," Gustave thought, " I am glad I have escaped meeting him." A few minutes brought him to the door of the house. He knocked at it with his stick. There was no answer. Presently, however, he heard the click of flint and steel, and a light glimmered from the window of Liline's room, Gustave weat on to the window, and tapped at it " Do not be frightened/' he said ; ♦* it is I— - Gustave — let me in." He could not see iqto t^he rooni, for the light 146 THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN had beer screened. Presently the upper halt of tne house-door was opened, and he saw Liline. He was at the door^ and had taken both her hands before she could prevent him. "Liline, my darling — my beloved. Will you let me come in ? 1 have been very anxious about you." She tried to drsw her hands away ; but Gustave kissed them, and held them fast. ** Please let me go, my father will be here directly. Do not get me into trouble. I dare not let yju in till father comes, rie would be so angry." He loosed her hands. " I am going to tell your father everything, my child ; he will see that I am in earnest ; he will consent to our betrothal At most I ask you to wait two years, and I promise you, dearest, to shorten the waiting as much as I can." He looked at her anxiously. It was not so dark here as it had been under the trees, and her A REPULSE 147 face puzzled him, she looked sad and changed. He wished she would raise her white, drooping eye- lids, and let him read her thoughts in her sweet eyes. But Liline stood silent ; her eyes were fixed on the ground, and her arms hung listlessly beside her. " Dearest Liline, may I not come in and wait for your father ? " She raised her eyes and looked at him calmly, and as if she were ignorant of the love that glowed in his face. "Monsieur," she said, "you had better not say anything of the kind to my father — he would most likely vex you, and for the sake of our old friendship I should not like you to be vexed.'* " What do you mean, Liline ? What is this ? " he said, in alarm. " Please go away before my father comes, and then I shall not be scolded." " You shall not be scolded, dearest girl. I will go on and meet your father as soon as I hear his S 9 148 THE HAUNTED FOUNTAIN footsteps. I am, sure he will be content if you are — ^you are willing to accept my love, are you not sweet child ? " He tried to take her hand again ; but she drew back further from the door. " Monsieur," she said, and Gustave felt chilled by her tone, " you are mistaken. I made no promise to you." "Liline!" he spoke in a hurried, passionate way that frightened her. " What has changed you — what has happened } You accepted my love ; two days ago I left you smiling — the sweet darling Liline that I know you to be; you have kept out of my way since then, and now you meet me as if I were a stranger. What do you mean by saying * Monsieur ' ? — you, to whom I have always been 'Gustave.'" He was leaning over the half-door, his arms held out to her ; she put out both hands as if to warn him from any nearer approach. "You are unjust to me," she said, in a vexed tone ** You said you loved me, and you asked A kEPVLSE t49 ttie Some day to marry you. Your — your mannei impressed me, and while I listened I began to think I could be happy with you ; but — but— i9 t€ You Aave changed," he broke in ; he tried to keep down his anger. " Some one has tried to set you against me." "No, monsieur/' Liline answered, so heartily that he could not doubt her. " It is not so. After you left me I reflected, and I saw that a marriage between us would be a mistake. We are not suited ; but we can still be friends. I want a friend badly, and I could trust you, Monsieur Chauvin." She said this sweetly as she looked up at him. " Friends i You do not know what you are talking about," he said, roughly. " I could never be your friend — unless I were your husband. But you talk wildly. You give me no reason for this change — ah, Liline, you have no reason to give — it is mere caprice; and ytt," he added, bitterly, "two days ago you loved me — or else you were not true." Liline was losing her calm. Something in her pleaded for this man — he was so honest, so true, he I5