PQ 
 
 2167 
 .A7 
 1911 
 
 LOVE 
 
 '1!?^ 
 
 IN A 
 
 ^Q 21fc7 AT 1911 
 UNiVERSjT. or CALlfOPNU SAN ^lE&O 
 
 3 1822 
 
 180 8516 
 
 A5R 
 
 HONORE DE BALZAC
 
 rtieRARY 
 
 I UIM¥t«SITY OF 
 
 I • tAiroiCGO
 
 llllB 
 
 3 1822 01180 boio 
 
 * 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 ./^-l 
 
 ")
 
 LOVE IN A MASK
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 or IMPRUDENCE m m j& 
 js M jff and HAPPINESS 
 
 A Hitherto Unpublished Novel 
 
 by 
 HONORE DE BALZAC 
 
 Translated by 
 ALICE M. IVIMY 
 
 RAND McNALLY & COMPANY 
 
 CHICAGO NEW YORK
 
 Copyright, ion. 
 By AucE M. Ivnrr
 
 A NOTE 
 
 Balzac, in gratitude to the Duchesse de Dino 
 for her friendship and unfailing kindness to 
 him, one day presented her with the story of 
 "L'Amour Masque" (Love in a Mask) in his 
 own handwriting. The duchess was one of 
 the few French aristocrats who in Balzac's 
 time welcomed untitled authors to their salons, 
 and her library boasted many such offerings 
 from the literar}' men of her day. She placed 
 Balzac's unpublished book on her shelves by 
 the side of similarly unpublished poems by 
 Alfred de Musset, and stories by Eugene Sue 
 and others. The Balzac manuscript was in- 
 cased in a finely tooled binding of great rich- 
 ness and beaut}-, bearing the ex libris of the 
 ducal family. 
 
 For more than half a centur\^ the manu- 
 script remained where the duchess had placed 
 it. Then her son. ^I. Maurice de Talleyrand- 
 Perigord. the present Due de Dino. made it a 
 present to his friend, the learned Lucien Au- 
 banel. By him it was given to M. Gillequin. 
 with the suggestion that it be published, and it 
 accordingly appeared in print for the first 
 
 7
 
 8 A NOTE 
 
 time in March, 191 1. The Due de Dino, in 
 a letter written to M. Gillequin on this occa- 
 sion, guaranteed the history of the volume 
 which for so long had been one of the treas- 
 ured possessions of his family. 
 
 The Publishers.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Chapter I ^^ 
 
 Chapter II 27 
 
 Chapter III 35 
 
 Chapter IV 44 
 
 Chapter V 55 
 
 Chapter VI 65 
 
 Chapter VII 7^ 
 
 Chapter VIII 88 
 
 Chapter IX 99 
 
 Chapter X "o 
 
 Chapter XI 121 
 
 Chapter XII 132
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 OR 
 IMPRUDENCE AND HAPPINESS 
 
 MIDNIGHT was striking, and all 
 Paris was astir ; the streets were 
 filled with people bent on merry- 
 making; it was the eve of Mardi Gras 
 (Shrove Tuesday). 
 
 Leon de Preval, a young cavalry officer, 
 had just made his way into the Opera Ball. 
 There, for over an hour, he wandered 
 aimlessly amid the throng that seethed 
 forward and backward, finding no one he 
 knew, and quite failing to grasp the mean- 
 ing of the stupid greetings flung at him 
 
 11
 
 12 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 from time to time by the women he 
 passed. Finally, choked with dust, over- 
 come with heat, dizzy with the ceaseless 
 buzz of all these black-robed specters, he 
 asked himself impatiently whether this 
 were indeed pleasure, and turned to find 
 the door. 
 
 At that moment two masked women 
 came down the steps into the ballroom. 
 Both were strikingly graceful, and both 
 were strikingly well dressed. They were 
 accompanied by a genial looking man 
 without a mask. A little murmur of 
 admiration greeted them, and a band of 
 giddy youths fell in behind them, hurling 
 flippant compliments and extravagant 
 gallantries at the two masks. 
 
 Leon followed with the rest. At every 
 step the curiosity of the crowd added to the 
 numbers of the little procession; soon, it 
 encountered a group of masqueraders,
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 13 
 
 themselves the center of a cortege, who, 
 coming from the opposite direction, threw 
 such confusion into the ranks that one of 
 the ladies, the younger looking of the 
 two, was separated from her friends. 
 Glancing anxiously around her in search 
 of a protector, her eyes fell on Leon, who 
 was following her movements with a 
 good deal of interest, and, hastily seizing 
 his arm, "Oh, I implore you," she said 
 nervously, using the familiar ihou, "get us 
 out of this and help me find my friends." 
 
 "I am at your service, lovely Mask, 
 Don't be afraid; trust yourself to me, 
 and come with me." 
 
 And, with the lady clinging to one arm, 
 with the other he cleared a way for her 
 through the press, bringing her safely out 
 at last to the clock room; there he seated 
 her on a bench, and volunteered to go to 
 find her some refreshments.
 
 14 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 "No, stay with me," she said; "I don't 
 want anything. I am really ashamed to 
 have given way to such foolish terror." 
 
 "Ah, but I am ready to bless the cause; 
 without it, I should not have known the 
 happiness of being chosen by you to pro- 
 tect you." 
 
 "I am willing to admit that you have 
 rendered me a great service, and I am 
 grateful. I will even implore you to 
 continue to extend your protection until 
 we can find my friends." 
 
 "What I You want to leave me already? 
 Ah, if only from gratitude, grant me a 
 few minutes." 
 
 "Well, then, as a reward, I will stay a 
 few minutes with you." 
 
 They sat down side by side, and the 
 time sped swiftly while they chatted gaily, 
 lightly together. 
 
 At last the charming Mask bethought
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 15 
 
 herself once more of her missing party. 
 
 "But who are these friends of yours?' 
 said Leon. "Is it your mother, or sister*? 
 And, perhaps, a husband^" 
 
 "A husband^ No, indeed, thank God I^' 
 
 "You are not married*?" 
 
 "No, not now." 
 
 "What, already a widow ^ How sorry 
 I am for you I" 
 
 "Pray, why should you suppose that I 
 am to be pitied? Are all husbands so 
 kind? Are all men so tender? Is there, 
 on the contrary, one who deserves to be 
 regretted?" 
 
 "Oh, what an anathema! He is a 
 happy fellow who succeeds in inspiring 
 you with juster, milder feelings I" 
 
 "Toward men? Heaven forbid!" 
 
 "Then you are determined to drive to 
 despair all the troop of admirers who, no 
 doubt—"
 
 i6 LOVE IN A MASK. 
 
 "I haven't one; I have just arrived 
 from the other side of the world, and 
 know nobody here." 
 
 "Nobody, really*? Then, fair Mask, I 
 put myself down as your first, and you 
 will see that I shall be ever the most 
 devoted, the most constant — " 
 
 "Constant I Bon Dieu! If it is in that 
 strain you are going to talk, I shall leave 
 you forthwith." 
 
 "What, does constancy — " 
 
 "Constancy is but a chain that we pre- 
 tend to wear in order to impose its weight 
 on another. Now that I am free, perfectly 
 free, I intend to remain so; no man living 
 could induce me to forswear myself." 
 
 "There is no more freedom for me, I 
 feel that, but I cannot regret it. The chain 
 shall, however, be for me only; you can- 
 not prevent my loving you, or hoping — " 
 
 "Ah no, no, no, monsieur; I do not
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 17 
 
 want love; I do not want promises; and 
 least of all do I want any one to hope for 
 anything from me." 
 
 "But, cruel Mask, incomprehensible 
 Mask, what then do you want? What 
 must one do to obtain at least your pity?" 
 
 "One must neither rave nor deceive; 
 neither exaggerate a feeling of which he 
 is barely conscious, nor fancy it possible 
 to induce a sensible woman to change her 
 plans for a few romantic words, or 
 hypocritical attentions; one must be 
 humble, discreet, patient. I must have 
 time to make up my mind, to find out 
 exactly what I want, and then, perhaps — " 
 
 "Then, perhaps, what? Charming 
 Mask, finish the sentence, let me know 
 my fate. I will be obedient; silence, sub- 
 mission, patience, I promise everything." 
 
 As he spoke Leon's face glowed with 
 love and hope, and he gazed eagerly into
 
 i8 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 the large, black eyes, which, soft and 
 sparkling, appeared to be studying him 
 with calm and close scrutiny. 
 
 Entirely disregarding his impassioned 
 tones, she went on with a thoughtful air: 
 
 "This gold braid must betoken a grade. 
 You are in the service, no doubt?" 
 
 Confounded by her self-possession, 
 Leon could only reply by a gesture of 
 assent. 
 
 "In what regiment'?" 
 
 "I am captain in the Sixth Horse," he 
 replied, a little hurt. 
 
 "You are on furlough, perhaps*? Does 
 your family live in this city?" 
 
 "No; my people belong to a distant 
 part of the country. They are far from 
 rich, but they are honorable and highly 
 respected. I only came up with my regi- 
 ment, and, like you, lovely Mask, have 
 been but a few days in the capital; like
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 19 
 
 you, too, I know no one here; like you, I 
 am free, with no attachments and no ties. 
 Fate seems to have brought me here to 
 lose at one blow my heart, my liberty, 
 and my peace of mind." 
 
 "And find in return, of course, nothing 
 but a hard-hearted, ungrateful woman! 
 These are the conventional things that we 
 all say. Now, I am going to do justice 
 to Chance, that is at times kind to us, and 
 I am inclined to believe that it has been 
 so this time in bringing us two together. 
 It may be that I shall have it to thank 
 for the one blessing that was lacking in 
 my life." 
 
 "Adorable and mysterious lady, if only 
 I could fall at your feet, and there swear 
 that henceforth Leon de Prcval, grateful 
 and humble, will do all in his power to 
 merit so sweet an avowal I" 
 
 "An avowal!" she said. "You call
 
 20 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 that an avowal *? Did one ever see any- 
 thing to equal the presumption of these 
 men?' 
 
 "But how can one help believing a 
 little in what one so fondly hopes ^ May I 
 not know who is the fascinating creature 
 that takes a pleasure in teasing me"? May 
 I not raise the mask that hides the 
 features — " 
 
 "Which perhaps are not so very plain!" 
 
 "If only I might see them for a mo- 
 ment, if I might but read there I" 
 
 "Can't you read all you need to know 
 in my eyes?" 
 
 "They are bewitching, but suppose a 
 sweet smile went with them*?" 
 
 She rose from her seat, and in a colder, 
 more serious manner she said: 
 
 "No, you will never see me, never 
 know me, and never will you learn any- 
 thing about me."
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 21 
 
 Leon stood as though petrified. 
 
 "Did one ever hear of such inconceiv- 
 able caprice? It is useless, madame, for 
 me to trouble you any longer. I see you 
 are anxious to rejoin your friends. We 
 must look for them." 
 
 She interrupted him, not noticing his 
 anger. 
 
 "Leon de Preval, that 's your name, 
 is n't it," she said dreamily, "captain of 
 the Sixth Horse? Do you expect to stay 
 long in the city?" 
 
 "What can that matter to you, cruel 
 one, since you do not mean to see me ever 
 again?" 
 
 "But what makes you think I don't 
 mean to see you again? How little it 
 takes to throw these wiseacres off their 
 balance ! I am, on the contrary, so deter- 
 mined to see you again that — " 
 
 "Mon Dieu, my dear, what ever has
 
 22 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 become of you?" cried a woman's voice 
 behind them. "We have been hunting 
 for you these two hours past." 
 
 It was the friend and escort of the 
 pretty Mask. Thus suddenly brought 
 together again, each in turn ran quickly 
 over the incidents of the night. 
 
 "I am worn out with fatigue, and bored 
 to death," said the lady who had just 
 arrived upon the scene. "For pity's sake, 
 let us go home." 
 
 "With all my heart. There is nothing 
 to keep me here any longer." 
 
 "What, so soon*?" exclaimed Leon. 
 "At least, you will not forbid me to 
 accompany you to your carriage?" 
 
 This favor was granted, and the pair 
 followed the others out of the hall. 
 
 "Be merciful," said Leon, "and finish 
 the charming sentence you had begun 
 when we were so annoyingly interrupted.
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 23 
 
 We were talking of meeting again. But 
 when*? Where? And how*? Think that 
 in a minute more I shall have lost every- 
 thing but the remembrance of you. Will 
 you not leave me a little hope*?" 
 
 "Ah, then he has got over his fit of 
 temper?" 
 
 "Do not play with me now. I am 
 about to lose you. How shall I be able 
 to—" 
 
 "Well, there is just a possibility that I 
 may come to the Mi-Careme ball here." 
 
 "Three weeks to wait I Ye gods, three 
 centuries !" 
 
 "Yes, three weeks, perhaps, and per- 
 haps never." 
 
 "I shall be dead by that time, dead 
 with impatience and worry." 
 
 "That will entirely upset my plans." 
 
 "Your plans?" 
 
 But they had reached the door. A
 
 24 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 carriage had just drawn up, but in the 
 darkness it was impossible to distinguish 
 either its color or its coat of arms. A 
 black servant was holding the door open. 
 
 "May I not at least cherish the hope 
 that you will be sorry for my sufferings^" 
 
 "Indeed, I fancy you are going to 
 occupy my mind considerably." 
 
 As she finished speaking, she sprang 
 lightly into the carriage, and the horses 
 dashed rapidly off. 
 
 Leon stood and gazed after that coach 
 which was carrying away from him his 
 new conquest, and, caring no more for the 
 ball, he made his way homeward, his 
 brain in confusion, his heart a little 
 troubled; his mind ran upon his adven- 
 ture, and he reproached himself bitterly 
 for not having found some means of 
 carrying it a little farther. 
 
 "Who can she be," he said to himself,
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 25 
 
 "so attractive and so odd? She cannot 
 be a demi-mondaine^ with that noble 
 bearing, at once modest and proud, and 
 with such unmistakable ease of manner. 
 What can she want"? And why should 
 she alternately encourage and repel me? 
 She talked of her plans, and wanted to 
 know all sorts of details about me; our 
 meeting might prove a happy thing for 
 her — yet I am never to see her again, and 
 must never know who she is — Was she 
 only playing with me? If I thought that, 
 what a revenge I would take I But pray, 
 how and on whom? She may not come to 
 the next ball ; I may have lost all trace of 
 her forever. I should be sorry, for I am 
 convinced that she is charming. What 
 a soft sensuousness there is in her pretty, 
 flexible figure I What beautiful eyes she 
 has, and what an expressive voice! And 
 such a graceful, witty way of talking!
 
 26 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 These three weeks are going to be endless. 
 I had better spend them in looking for 
 and finding her. It might be as well to 
 get some sleep in the first place I" 
 
 But there was no sleep for Leon that 
 night. At an early hour he rose and 
 began at once his search.
 
 II 
 
 THE whole of the first week was 
 spent in searching the streets, 
 shops, theaters, and pastry- 
 cooks' ; in following up every woman who 
 seemed to bear the faintest resemblance 
 to the stranger; committing a thousand 
 blunders, and many impertinences, with 
 no other result than to prove to himself 
 the utter uselessness of his attempt. The 
 second week found him thoroughly dis- 
 heartened, and in the course of the third 
 he began to wonder how much longer he 
 was going to act as a puppet in the hands 
 of a coquette who was perhaps only 
 concealing herself from his eyes in order 
 to enjoy the sight of his discomfiture. 
 
 27
 
 28 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 Then one day a missive was left at his 
 door containing these words : 
 
 "M. de Preval will of course remember 
 that he is expected on Thursday at the 
 Opera Ball at one a.m., under the clock." 
 
 As he read, his hopes were fired anew. 
 On the day appointed, midnight had 
 scarcely struck when Leon took up his 
 position beneath the clock, consumed with 
 amorous impatience and keen curiosity. 
 
 A long hour had slipped away when, at 
 length, the white domino flitted by. She 
 bowed slightly, and, slackening her pace 
 to allow her companions to pass on before 
 her, she accepted the arm that Leon had 
 sprung up to offer her. Delighted to meet 
 her again, beside himself with hope and 
 happiness, he gently pressed her round 
 arm to his side, and described in eloquent 
 terms all the sufferings of the last few
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 29 
 
 days, his vain search, his fears, his impa- 
 tience. Quietly she listened, then suddenly 
 interrupted him. 
 
 "Well, I fared better than you," she 
 said, "for I found out at once all I wanted 
 to know about you." 
 
 "About me?' 
 
 "Yes, indeed; I found all you had told 
 me was strictly true, but I learned in addi- 
 tion that you are popular with your com- 
 rades, and that your superior officers think 
 highly of you. They say, moreover, that 
 you are capable of acting honestly by 
 women, and might even be trusted to keep 
 any promise extorted from you." 
 
 "That would be merely my duty; do 
 please let us talk about my happiness. 
 Have you really been thinking about me? 
 Is it possible you were sufficiently inter- 
 ested in me to hope I might be worthy 
 your regard, and to try to find out — "
 
 30 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 "But I had to, if I meant to carry out 
 my plans!" 
 
 "Ah, those plans of yours I I hope I 
 am now going to hear what they are. 
 Kind Mask, go on ; do, I beseech you, trust 
 the fortunate mortal whose heart already 
 beats for you alone, and who is only wait- 
 ing a word from you to give himself to you 
 forever." 
 
 "I should be very sorry I" she ejaculated 
 hastily. 
 
 For a few moments Leon was silenced. 
 
 "Oh," he said at last, "do not play this 
 cruel game with me any longer. Why 
 tease me with alternate kindness and cold- 
 ness? This is the last of these balls, but 
 do not think to escape me again. I shall 
 dog your footsteps and follow you until 
 you promise to meet mc again, and give 
 me an opportunity to lay my heart and my 
 hopes at your feet, and hear from you 
 what these plans can be."
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 31 
 
 "Oh, no, no; I must first be quite sure 
 of your reasonableness and prudence. 
 There are certain conditions I shall have 
 to impose, and your word of honor, duly 
 signed and sealed, must be my guarantee 
 of their fulfilment." 
 
 "My word of honor! My signature!" 
 said Leon, considerably astonished at 
 her cold-blooded precautions and also at 
 the solemnity she seemed to attach to a 
 treaty made at the Opera Ball. 
 
 He looked down at his companion. She 
 was clearly embarrassed and meditative; 
 her bosom heaved with obvious agitation; 
 and he almost fancied he could detect a 
 blush beneath her mask. She on her side 
 was abstractedly watching him, and 
 seemed perplexed and doubtful. 
 
 Convinced that the moment had come 
 when with a little pressure she would give 
 way, Leon went on eagerly: 
 
 "Charming but inexplicable creature!
 
 32 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 Well, then, I consent to whatever you ask, 
 and I will renew the vow I made at the 
 last ball to be obedient, docile, and dis- 
 creet. I accept your conditions before- 
 hand, if you in return will leave me the 
 joy of hoping to meet you again and hold- 
 ing finally in my arms her — " 
 
 "It must be so," she murmured absently, 
 apparently replying rather to some thought 
 in her own mind than to what he was 
 saying. 
 
 But Leon noticed only her words, and 
 they completely turned his head. 
 
 "Oh, how glad I am !" he cried. "Let us 
 go away, dear, unknown Lady. Perfect 
 my happiness by coming away with me 
 out of this tiresome crowd. Let us go 
 where I can tear off this odious mask and 
 take your commands. Then in greater 
 freedom than is possible here, let me pay 
 love's debt." 
 
 As he spoke he drew her gently for-
 
 -LOVE IN A MASK 33 
 
 ward; but suddenly she paused, withdrew 
 her arm, and regaining the haughty car- 
 riage that seemed natural to her, she said 
 in a calm, cold voice: 
 
 "You are strangely mistaken, M. de 
 Preval. Your rash transports and vain 
 declarations offend and hurt me. Believe 
 me, I am not what you dare to think, and 
 I am entitled to more consideration, 
 greater respect, and more prudence from 
 you. I am going to overlook this offense, 
 however, because I admit that my own odd 
 behavior might well have misled you; 
 but you must do all I tell you. To-morrow 
 you shall hear from me and I will then 
 let you know exactly what conditions I 
 mean to make. Till then, be patient and 
 resign yourself." 
 
 As she spoke, she moved away into the 
 crowd, intending to give him the slip, but 
 he dashed after her in pursuit. 
 
 "No," he cried, "I am not going to leave
 
 34 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 you. You shall not run away like this. 
 Cruel creature, you touch my heart, set 
 my imagination on fire, and then forsake 
 
 me." 
 
 "Take me to my carriage," she said, and 
 in her voice there rang a note of command. 
 
 He grasped the hand she offered, and 
 again poured forth his lamentations and 
 prayers, but all to no effect. 
 
 The faithful negro was standing at 
 the door. The stranger quickly entered 
 her carriage, saying to Leon, "Good-bye, 
 till to-morrow. You may rely on my 
 promise." 
 
 "At least, permit me to see you home," 
 he said, his foot on the step. 
 
 "Close the door, and drive home," she 
 said energetically. 
 
 Her order was instantly obeyed, and 
 once again Leon saw his hopes vanish with 
 her who had inspired them.
 
 Ill 
 
 THE impatience with which Leon 
 waited for the morrow may be 
 more easily imagined than de- 
 scribed. How often did he run up to his 
 rooms to see if the letter had yet arrived I 
 How delighted he was when at last it was 
 handed to him I But what was his aston- 
 ishment to read these words: 
 
 "Yesterday M. de Preval appeared 
 keenly to desire to see again the lady in 
 the white domino whom he met at the 
 Opera Ball. To obtain this favor he de- 
 clared himself ready to do anything she 
 asked of him. 
 
 "Here are the conditions on which he 
 may have what he so persistently de- 
 manded : 
 
 35
 
 36 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 "\. M. de Preval must be in his rooms 
 at midnight to-morrow ; a trustworthy man 
 whom he has already seen once will call 
 for him with a hired carriage which will 
 convey him to his destination, only M. de 
 Preval must allow his eyes to be blind- 
 folded. 
 
 "2. He must refrain from questioning 
 his guide, and must not attempt to bribe 
 him (this would be quite useless), but 
 he must quietly follow instructions. 
 
 "3. He must promise to make no noise, 
 and no scandal; he must not make a fuss 
 about the darkness, and must not attempt 
 to induce the person who will be waiting 
 for him to break the silence she has de- 
 termined to keep. 
 
 "4. Finally, when his guide returns to 
 fetch him, he must follow him out to the 
 carriage and thence homeward, with the 
 same precautions, and afterward, without
 
 LOVE IN A MASK v 
 
 making vain attempts to discover what is 
 to be done with him, he must patiently 
 await the enlightenment that is faithfully 
 promised to him. 
 
 "5. If M. de Preval accepts these con- 
 ditions he can write on the foot of this 
 sheet that he will keep them, add his sig- 
 nature, and leave it in an envelope at his 
 door to wait till called for." 
 
 When he had read through this extraor- 
 dinary document Leon, astonished be- 
 yond measure, was torn by a thousand 
 conflicting feelings. 
 
 How was he to reconcile the elaborate 
 precautions of this strange compact with 
 the enlightenment that was promised*? 
 How could he make this appointment 
 agree with the air of lofty distinction and 
 reserve of the stranger? 
 
 He told himself over and over again
 
 38 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 that it would be the height of folly and im- 
 prudence to sign such a treaty, and embark 
 on such a wild-goose chase. And yet, as 
 the graceful image of the pretty Mask 
 rose before his mind's eye, and their ani- 
 mated talk at the ball recurred again to 
 his memory, the contrast between her pride 
 and her weakness, the piquancy of the 
 situation, his now strongly aroused curios- 
 ity, and his vanity at stake, all combined 
 to make up an irresistible temptation. For 
 a moment he even fancied there might be 
 a spice of danger in trusting himself to 
 some unknown man to be led to an un- 
 known place, his hands tied by his prom- 
 ise, and his person exposed defenseless to 
 all risks. But this prospect added savor 
 to the rest. 
 
 "No, indeed," he cried, "I shall not 
 draw back now; the precious reward of- 
 fered is well worth a little folly."
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 39 
 
 And, seizing a pen, this wise Cato wrote 
 like any harebrained youth: 
 
 "I accept all the conditions imposed, 
 and undertake on my word of honor to ful- 
 fil them scrupulously. I only ask permis- 
 sion to wear my sword. 
 
 "Leon de Preval." 
 
 In the course of the evening some one 
 called for his answer, and on the follow- 
 ing day he received another note, contain- 
 ing these few words: 
 
 "He may wear his sword, but M. de 
 Preval has nothing to fear for either his 
 honor or his safety." 
 
 Never was day so long. 
 
 For two hours Leon, ready dressed, had 
 been walking up and down his room when 
 the sound of a carriage drawing up to the 
 door brought his heart into his mouth.
 
 40 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 Seizing his sword, he ran rapidly down- 
 stairs, and found the black servant stand- 
 ing there. The man motioned him to get 
 into the carriage, and then, in his bad 
 French, respectfully asked permission to 
 bandage his eyes. 
 
 Leon made no resistance. 
 
 After driving a short time the negro 
 ordered the coachman to stop, and helped 
 Leon to step out on to the pavement. To- 
 gether they walked a few yards, and then 
 entered a house where they mounted a 
 short staircase. Leon could perceive that 
 he was being led through some large 
 rooms until they reached one that was 
 filled with sweet scents. At this moment 
 his bandage was removed, and, glancing 
 eagerly round, he found himself in a dark 
 apartment, at the end of which was an 
 open door that revealed an elegant boudoir 
 dimly lighted by an alabaster lamp.
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 41 
 
 The negro standing beside him with a 
 dark lantern in his hand pointed to the 
 boudoir and in a low tone uttered the 
 words: "Honor and silence." He then 
 disappeared. 
 
 Leon laid aside his sword, and entered 
 swiftly. A woman, his unknown friend, 
 dressed in a simple neglige, her head 
 wrapped in a veil, was half reclining on a 
 sofa. 
 
 Leon threw himself at her feet. 
 
 "I am a happy man I" he cried. "But 
 what'? Are you still hiding your face from 
 me? For pity's sake, make no more mys- 
 tery; throw off your veil." 
 
 As he spoke he lifted his impatient hand. 
 No obstacle was interposed, but at the 
 same instant the lamp went out. 
 
 We dare not throw light on the dark- 
 ness that Leon respected. We will not 
 infringe the order of silence; we will only
 
 42 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 say that his highest hopes were surpassed 
 by the reality, and in the pleasure of that 
 meeting he had no desire to break his 
 word. 
 
 Time passed quickly, and the night was 
 far advanced when a slight sound was 
 heard in the apartment; a secret door had 
 been opened, the stranger disappeared, and 
 Leon found himself alone. The negro 
 stood again before him, and respectfully 
 requested him to replace the bandage over 
 his eyes and follow him. 
 
 *'No," he replied, both pained and 
 vexed, "I will not go until I have seen her 
 — until I have obtained — " 
 
 A woman's voice interrupted him, whis- 
 pering close beside him, "Honor and 
 silence." 
 
 Leon rushed toward the voice to find 
 only a wall ; he groped along it and came 
 upon a small door fastened on the other
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 43 
 
 side, through whose cracks he could dis- 
 tinguish a light that receded rapidly and 
 then disappeared. 
 
 "Cruel," he said, not daring to speak 
 aloud, "stop one moment, only one 
 word — " 
 
 "Honor and silence," said the negro 
 firmly. 
 
 "Yes," Leon replied sadly. "I am bound 
 in honor, I promised, I submit. I can only 
 hope that others will be as faithful to their 
 word as I am to mine." 
 
 The bandage was replaced, and Leon 
 followed his guide out to the carriage. 
 Soon he was at home again, where, alone 
 with his memories, alternately delicious 
 and sad, happy and anxious, he, now 
 madly in love, wondered if indeed the 
 whole thing were not a dream, and fell 
 asleep in the hope of prolonging it.
 
 IV 
 
 UT who shall describe his anxiety 
 and distress as the days went by, 
 then a week, a second and a third, 
 with still no news from the stranger? 
 Still she took no trouble to soothe his 
 impatience. 
 
 His mind dwelt painfully on the inci- 
 dent. 
 
 "What !" he said, "is it possible that my 
 loyalty and honor were invoked merely 
 to satisfy the passing caprice of an un- 
 principled and immoral woman *? No, no, 
 I am unjust to her and ungrateful too. I 
 could feel her heart beating with fear. O 
 my beloved lady, why hide from my love*? 
 Why lift me to a pinnacle of bliss only to 
 dash me to earth again directly after? 
 
 44
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 45 
 
 The memory of the moments we spent to- 
 gether entirely absorbs me; is it possible 
 they have no power over you^" 
 
 In this apostrophe to his mysterious 
 belle Leon was interrupted by the arrival 
 of a letter which seemed nicely timed to 
 reply to it. He recognized at once the 
 handwriting of the conditions, and opened 
 the envelope with a hand that shook with 
 pleasure. This is what he read: 
 
 "How many illusions I am destroying ! 
 What tender hopes will now be blighted! 
 What prestige dwindle away! You think 
 yourself the victor, but instead you are 
 under orders. Your vanity must have 
 been stirred at the thought of the irresist- 
 ible influence you wielded over a weak 
 woman, but it is you who have to obey 
 her will. You are of course waiting im- 
 patiently to see and know her, to establish
 
 46 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 your empire over her by fresh transports 
 on your side and fresh weaknesses on hers 
 — and that moment will never come. All 
 is over between her and you. 
 
 "Nevertheless, the loyalty and delicacy 
 of your behavior deserve some recognition 
 from me. I don't think I can better prove 
 my gratitude than by confiding to you 
 those plans you v/ere so curious to hear, 
 and explaining the conduct which must 
 have seemed strange at least in your eyes, 
 if not imprudent, though, thanks to you, I 
 believe I shall never have cause to regret 
 it. 
 
 "An unequal match which brought me 
 3nly misery, humiliation, injustice, and vio- 
 lence has left in me an invincible repug- 
 nance for a tic that weighs heavily on the 
 weak, upholds the strong, and sanctions 
 injustice. When therefore I found myself 
 at the age of twenty-five free, wealthy,
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 47 
 
 and my own mistress, I vowed to re- 
 main so always, but I very soon discovered 
 that I was purchasing my independence at 
 the price of nature's sweetest solace. When 
 I looked around me I found not a creature 
 who needed my care and tenderness, not 
 one to love me and tell me so. I was con- 
 tinually haunted by sorrow for my child- 
 less condition, and by degrees this became 
 a real grief. I was born beneath a fierce 
 sky, and my blood is hot, my passions 
 strong. What more can I say^ I grad- 
 ually came to form the singular plan by 
 which I might know the joys of maternity 
 without submitting to a hated yoke. Still, 
 do not think me a strong-minded woman, 
 and do not imagine that I scorn as preju- 
 dices those laws which I know to be useful 
 to society. No, I have the greatest re- 
 spect for them, and if, for this time alone, 
 I have dared to set them aside, believe
 
 48 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 me, it is for this once only, because special 
 circumstances made it possible for me to 
 save at the same time appearances and 
 reputation. 
 
 "My plan, formed in the first instance 
 in fear and trembling, soon occupied 
 all my waking thought. I will confess 
 that there was a romantic glamour about 
 it that lent it an additional charm in my 
 eyes. Soon it grew to be a passion. You 
 know how I succeeded in putting it in exe- 
 cution, and to you I shall owe the sole 
 blessing that my life lacked. At first I 
 meant to leave you in ignorance of the 
 truth, and forget you entirely. Now I 
 have changed my mind and have come to 
 think that I owe you some explanation. 
 Moreover, if my hopes are fulfilled, I may 
 die before the object of my affection is 
 old enough to take care of itself. It will 
 inherit all my fortune, but I think I ought
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 49 
 
 not to deprive it of its natural protector. 
 
 "No matter then where duty may call 
 you, when the time comes you will receive 
 from me a split ring on which there will be 
 engraved the date of a birth; the setting 
 will inform you of the sex, a diamond sig- 
 nifying a son, an emerald a daughter. The 
 second half of this ring will be given to 
 the child in the event of my death, with 
 all the clues necessary for finding you out. 
 When the second half is placed in your 
 hand the fact of its matching your own 
 will prove the right of the bearer to your 
 protection, and my personal regard for 
 you makes me very sure it will not be 
 asked in vain. 
 
 "Adieu, monsieur, adieu, Leon; fare- 
 well forever! Take no steps to discover 
 me; they would be vain, since in a few 
 days I shall be far away. Forget a fan- 
 tastic creature whom you do not and must
 
 50 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 not know; forget the dream of a single 
 night that cannot return. Be happy; 
 this is my one wish for you, and if I can 
 learn that it has been realized, I shall be 
 happy too." 
 
 "Happy I" cried Leon, flinging the let- 
 ter down angrily. "I am to be happy 
 when she coldly informs me I am never 
 to see her again ; when her insulting confi- 
 dences just reveal the value of the prize 
 that is lost to me, never to be regained I 
 But let her not think to escape me alto- 
 gether; she is mine; she herself formed the 
 tie between us. Could she have done it 
 only to sever it immediately *? Wherever 
 she goes I shall follow her, and every- 
 where I shall insist on my claims being 
 heard. She cannot shirk them." 
 
 Then, after a moment's reflection, he 
 added : "Alas ! I am forgetting that she is
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 51 
 
 going away. She is probably returning to 
 her own land, and the wide seas will di- 
 vide us. Unhappy man that I am, why 
 did I ever go to the ball I Why was I 
 such a fool as to accept her artful con- 
 ditions?" 
 
 The suddenness of the blow thus in- 
 flicted on his fondest hopes took such effect 
 on Leon that for several days he was ill. 
 As soon as he was able to go out again he 
 started his search with more energy than 
 ever, but, being himself a stranger in the 
 city, there were few means open to him, 
 and he soon found himself reduced to a 
 state of passive regret, which is perhaps 
 the worst of all evils. During this period 
 of his life his temper took on a tinge of 
 melancholy which never entirely deserted 
 him. 
 
 Brought up by an honorable family who 
 had instilled good principles into the lad,
 
 52 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 Leon had never indulged in the usual li- 
 cense of barracks ; his professional studies, 
 and a succession of fatiguing and glorious 
 campaigns, had left him little leisure to 
 form any lasting liaison. Though of an af- 
 fectionate disposition, he had never loved, 
 and this, the first serious impression made 
 upon him, was so much the deeper in conse- 
 quence. And now Chance had thrown in 
 his way an attractive woman, rendered 
 still more piquante by the mystery with 
 which she had surrounded herself, and she 
 had vanished like a shadow. On the very 
 eve, perhaps, of becoming a father, he was 
 yet never to be allowed to press to his 
 heart the child of his love; united by the 
 tenderest and strongest of ties to persons 
 visible only to his imagination, he was 
 doomed never to know them in the flesh. 
 
 Thoughts such as these left him no 
 peace; yet, after reading her letter over
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 53 
 
 and over again, he fancied he could detect 
 in it some faint promise for the future. 
 
 All hope of finding his unknown mis- 
 tress was not yet lost; this enigmatic ring 
 that she promised him, and that was to an- 
 nounce the most passionately longed-for 
 of events, constituted in itself a kind of 
 correspondence. Besides, since an ar- 
 rangement was to be made by which the 
 child should at any time be able to find its 
 father, it was evident that his fate and ex- 
 istence must continue to interest the 
 mother, and the thought that the invisible 
 stranger would be watching over his for- 
 tunes took hold of his imagination and af- 
 forded him some consolation. 
 
 But a fresh grief awaited him; orders 
 were given for his regiment to go into 
 garrison in a small town of the north of 
 France, and Leon, forced to accompany 
 his men, was plunged anew into the depths
 
 54 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 of despair. He felt that in leaving Paris 
 he lost all chance of discovering traces of 
 her he sought, and that, once buried in 
 the distant provinces, he might easily be 
 forgotten; even the message he was await- 
 ing with such impatience would perhaps 
 never reach him there. Still he had no 
 alternative but to leave, and residence in 
 the little town, with no society and no re- 
 source but solitary country walks, did not 
 contribute greatly to relieve Leon's mel- 
 ancholy mood.
 
 WHILST Leon, brooding in dull 
 exile over his troubles, was 
 mentally calculating the hours 
 that must elapse before the expected mes- 
 sage could be despatched, his unknown 
 friend, also in seclusion, but in a charm- 
 ing estate situated on the road from Tours 
 to Bordeaux, was freely indulging in 
 those joyful anticipations that her au- 
 dacity, coupled with her warm, eager 
 blood, had warranted. In the independ- 
 ent position in which she now found her- 
 self everything was new, and everything 
 seemed pleasant. 
 
 Born in Martinique, and reared amongst 
 a slave population, the youthful Elinor 
 at sixteen had never known any restraint 
 but that of her parents' indulgent rule; 
 
 55
 
 56 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 she had never felt the salutary yoke of the 
 hard and fast laws of society. But at 
 this period of her life her beauty, which 
 had begun to make some stir in the place, 
 aroused the admiration of M. de Roselis, 
 the richest settler in the island. He came 
 forward to ask for her hand, and his wealth 
 so dazzled her ambitious relatives that it 
 was granted immediately. 
 
 He was a man of some forty years, with 
 a handsome face but a character as odious 
 as it was contemptible. He had been the 
 overseer of the property he now owned, 
 and had spent his life there, and the habit 
 of command had developed in him all 
 those vices which invariably spring from 
 isolation and unlimited power. Suspicious 
 and violent, unprincipled and unscrupu- 
 lous, his vanity, flattered by the possession 
 of the handsomest girl in the col- 
 ony, soon effaced in him any sentiment
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 57 
 
 for her except that of a mean jealousy, 
 which he indulged with the inflexibility of 
 his imperious temper. 
 
 Elinor, shut up amongst her negresses, 
 over whom she had no control — many of 
 them being, indeed, her own rivals — had 
 now to endure the vilest treatment. Her 
 proud and sensitive heart was filled 
 with a deep-rooted resentment, and she 
 visited on all men the hatred and contempt 
 which were merited by the only one whom 
 she had opportunity of judging. 
 
 Her parents died of grief at having thus 
 sacrificed their only child, and shortly 
 after her husband, worn out by a manner 
 of life whose pleasures he had thoroughly 
 exhausted, began to make preparations to 
 remove to France. He had already ar- 
 ranged for the purchase of an estate in 
 that country, when he was suddenly over- 
 taken by death in the midst of a debauch.
 
 58 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 Thus the beautiful Elinor de Roselis 
 found herself at the age of twenty-five at 
 once the richest and most independent 
 woman in the colony, but, disgusted with 
 a place in which she had known only sor- 
 row, she resolved to put into execution 
 her husband's plans, and settle in France. 
 One of her childhood friends, Mme. de 
 Gernance, who had been more fortunate 
 than herself in marriage, was also about 
 to remove with her family and fortune to 
 France, so a vessel was chartered for them, 
 and Mme. de Roselis, having once more 
 vowed on the tomb of her parents to give 
 no man in future a right to dispose of her 
 person and fate, went on board, her mind 
 filled with a thousand schemes, and nurs- 
 ing as many fond hopes. 
 
 In the first years of her unhappy mar- 
 ried life Mme. de Roselis had suffered 
 keenly from her disappointment at having
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 59 
 
 no children; later she found consolation in 
 the fear lest a child of hers should inherit 
 the vices that caused her such lasting and 
 acute pain. 
 
 In the first flush of her recovered 
 liberty this regret returned with fresh 
 force ; alone, without relatives, without af- 
 fection, on the eve of landing on a foreign 
 shore where she knew no one, she realized 
 that independence is not the only requisite 
 for happiness, and that we all need some 
 interest in life to attach us to it. The com- 
 pany of her friend's children, who were 
 constantly with them during the voyage, 
 riveted her thoughts to the subject, and it 
 was their kisses and the games she played 
 with them that first gave her the idea of 
 the strange scheme we have seen her carry 
 out. The long journey afforded her plenty 
 of leisure in which to devise a way to 
 guard against the serious inconveniences
 
 6o LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 that might arise from such a proceeding; 
 and in proportion as the idea took shape in 
 her mind she became ever more enchanted 
 with it, until by the time Bordeaux was 
 reached she was completely under its spell. 
 
 Making only a short stay in that city, 
 she quickly followed M. and Mme. de 
 Gernance to Paris, where they intended to 
 spend the winter together. We have seen 
 with what rashness and success she accom- 
 plished her object, and how her lucky star 
 threw in her way a man like Leon de Pre- 
 val, whose honesty and steadiness of char- 
 acter saved her from the dangers to which 
 she was bent on exposing herself. 
 
 Admitting only her faithful black ser- 
 vant into her confidence, she had commis- 
 sioned him to find for her in some distant 
 suburb the little house that in the interval 
 between the two balls she arranged to 
 suit her purpose. The secret spring that
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 6i 
 
 extinguished the lamp and the secret door 
 by which she escaped were the fruit of the 
 careful forethought that she lavished on a 
 scheme which assuredly could be justified 
 by none. 
 
 As she was staying in the same hotel as 
 her traveling companions, she was obliged 
 to prepare them for her disappearance by 
 telling them she intended to leave for 
 the country on the day following the 
 Mi-Careme. Accordingly, on the day ap- 
 pointed, notwithstanding her friends' en- 
 treaties, she duly left, attended by the 
 negro, but she went only as far as the little 
 house. The rest of her household having 
 started a few hours earlier, all passed off 
 as she had planned. 
 
 After the meeting that she had arranged 
 with such care she remained concealed a 
 short time in the villa. It was from thence 
 she had written to him the letter that had
 
 62 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 caused Leon so much pain. A few days 
 later, she left for Touraine. 
 
 Her first care on arriving was to spread 
 a report in the district that her husband, 
 already ill when they started, had died on 
 the voyage; this was confirmed by her 
 mourning dress. Soon she allowed it to 
 be known that she was hoping shortly to 
 possess a tardy token of their union. After 
 some time the hope became an obvious cer- 
 tainty, and toward the end of the autumn 
 Mme. de Roselis obtained her heart's de- 
 sire, and gave birth to a daughter who was 
 brought up by her side in the chateau. 
 
 With what transports of joy she pressed 
 her long-desired child to her bosom — the 
 child in whom all the happiness of her life 
 was bound up, and in whom all her ten- 
 derest feelings would be centered I 
 
 "You will love me dearly," she said, 
 "you will thank me for the care and love I
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 63 
 
 shall lavish on you. I shall live for you 
 onl}^ and shall never have to fear lest de- 
 sertion and insult may be the reward of 
 my devotion. At last I have at my side a 
 creature who is bound to me by the sweet- 
 est and closest of ties, whose innocent af- 
 fection and childish joy will, I hope, 
 suffice for my own happiness." 
 
 It was but natural that the memory of 
 him to whom she owed her new happiness 
 should be present with her in the first glow 
 of it. She thought how delighted Leon 
 would be if he could see his child, and this 
 brought back to her mind the promise she 
 had made to let him know the date of its 
 birth. 
 
 The negro was sent to Paris to order the 
 ring that had been described to Leon. He 
 was told to find out at the War Office the 
 whereabouts of his regiment, and to start 
 immediately, at full speed, to take him this
 
 64 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 last message. He was himself to place it 
 in the hands of M. de Preval, and to de- 
 part instantly, without giving the young 
 officer time to ask a single question. The 
 black carried out his instructions with as 
 much accuracy as intelligence.
 
 VI 
 
 ONE morning, Leon, who had hailed 
 with some excitement the open- 
 ing of the month of November, 
 returned from drill in low spirits and full 
 of anxious thought. He was about to go 
 at once to his quarters when he heard be- 
 hind him the trot of a horse, and, turning 
 his head, recognized the negro. He ut- 
 tered a cry of surprise and delight as the 
 black rode up to him and, without dis- 
 mounting, said: 
 
 "Here is something I was ordered to 
 bring to you," and at the same moment 
 he placed in his hand a sealed box. 
 
 Then he set spurs to his horse and was 
 out of sight in an instant. Leon, dumb- 
 founded, followed him with his eyes, and 
 
 65
 
 66 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 but for the box he still held would have 
 been tempted to set the sudden event down 
 as an apparition to be attributed to his 
 own nervous condition. 
 
 Hastily, he opened the case. It con- 
 tained only the half of a gold ring, split 
 like a French wedding ring, on which was 
 engraved "November 22, 18 — ." It was 
 set with a very fine emerald. 
 
 "So it is a girl I" cried Leon. "I am a 
 father — and not a line, not a word for me I 
 She is still making sport of me I This ends 
 everything, probably, and I shall never 
 hear another word about her. Who ever 
 can she be, this unget-at-able creature who 
 does as she likes with me and seems to hold 
 my future in her hand, who remains in- 
 visible, and yet can find me out in this 
 distant spot, and, according to her way- 
 ward humor, seeks me or forsakes me"? 
 Wretched ball I Fatal meeting I"
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 67 
 
 He turned the matter over in his dis- 
 turbed mind in a hundred different ways, 
 but never came to any satisfactory con- 
 clusion. 
 
 A long year passed in this way. Then, 
 with the approach of the following spring, 
 there were rumors of a coming war; a 
 Spanish expedition was talked of, and the 
 officers, looking forward to promotion and 
 glory, were thankful for the prospect of 
 escape from inaction. 
 
 Leon was specially impatient for the 
 signal to enter the fray, for he was sick of 
 living with his memories, in the idleness 
 that fostered them. What then was his 
 surprise to receive one day a despatch from 
 the War Office, informing him of his nomi- 
 nation as aide-de-camp to General de X. 
 and ordering him to start at once for 
 Paris, where he was to join that officer. 
 
 To Leon, who had never seen his chief,
 
 68 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 and knew no one about his person who 
 could have exerted any influence in his 
 behalf, this promotion was inexplicable. 
 For some time past, however, he had been 
 living in an atmosphere of extraordinary 
 events; this last filled him with mingled 
 joy and hope. Might not his unknown 
 mistress have had a hand in the matter'? 
 If so, surely here was a clue to her name 
 and place of residence. At all events, he 
 was going back to Paris, and however 
 short his stay in the capital, some lucky 
 chance might help him in his search. 
 
 Thus he found himself once more back 
 in the city, where he was received in the 
 kindest way by his general, who installed 
 him in his own house and gave him a place 
 at his tabic. 
 
 At first the multiplicity of his duties 
 prevented him from taking any of those 
 steps which he had already proved to be
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 69 
 
 more than useless, but after a little while, 
 having won the regard of his chief and hav- 
 ing become in some sort a favorite with 
 him, he ventured to ask the name of the 
 person to whom he owed this post of honor. 
 The general informed him that the recom- 
 mendation of M. de B., who was in charge 
 of the war staff, and the record of Leon's 
 distinguished conduct in the last cam- 
 paign, had led him to ask for the young 
 man as his aide-de-camp. 
 
 "And that reminds me," he continued, 
 "you ought to go and thank him. I shall 
 be going there one evening soon, and if you 
 like I will take you with me." 
 
 Although this reply was a disappoint- 
 ment to Leon, he gratefully accepted the 
 offer, and a few days later the general 
 took him in his own carriage to call upon 
 M. de B. 
 
 They found a number of people already
 
 70 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 assembled in the drawing room when they 
 arrived, and Mme. de B. had just arranged 
 some card tables and resumed her place 
 near the fire, where she was chatting with 
 a small circle of friends, consisting of some 
 three or four women and as many men. 
 When Leon was introduced to her he 
 endeavored to obtain from her the infor- 
 mation he was so eager to get, but in vain. 
 After some civilities the conversation again 
 became general, and Mme. de B. begged 
 one of the gentlemen to continue the story 
 he had commenced. Thus Leon, his hopes 
 frustrated, found himself obliged to listen 
 with the rest. 
 
 A string of tales, some amusing, others 
 strange, were told by one and another of 
 the guests, and then Mme. de B., careful 
 that each in turn should have an opportu- 
 nity to shine, turned toward Leon and 
 asked him, with a smile, whether in the
 
 LOVE IN A MASK yi 
 
 course of his campaigns and the vicissitudes 
 of a soldier's life, he had not met with some 
 adventure that would bear relating. Leon's 
 mind was ever engrossed with his own re- 
 cent experiences, and he at once told the 
 tale, placing it, however, to the account of 
 a brother officer, but imparting to it the 
 living interest that only a man who is full 
 of his subject can command. 
 
 When he had finished, a lively discus- 
 sion of this singular fad of independence 
 followed. The ladies judged with just 
 severity the inexcusable imprudence .that 
 had led a woman so lightly to expose her- 
 self, and they blamed her for having 
 sacrificed her principles to a mistaken taste 
 for freedom. The men held that her ac- 
 tion was a sign of character and imagi- 
 nation, and that she had lived her romance 
 with as much wit as decision, and they set 
 her down as a charming woman. They all
 
 72 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 wished they had been in the shoes of that 
 officer, but all declared they would not 
 have allowed themselves to be so easily 
 shaken off, for no vows would have in- 
 duced them to refrain from unmasking 
 and subjugating the beautiful fugitive. 
 
 "Indeed," said a lady of a certain age, 
 with some dryness, "one need hardly have 
 been so scrupulous with a person who had 
 so little respect for herself." 
 
 "I admit," said a very pretty woman 
 seated in the corner of the fireplace, "that 
 it is impossible to justify her conduct. 
 Still, one may suppose that her aversion 
 for a second marriage rested on some pow- 
 erful and secret motive. The passion of 
 maternity seems to have done the rest, and 
 which of us, when fondling the child who 
 smiles up at us, but can find in our heart 
 some excuse for an error prompted by this 
 feeling?'
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 73 
 
 "But you must at least admit that it 
 was very hard upon this poor officer?" 
 
 "Why, what harm has she done to 
 him?" asked the pretty lady in a careless 
 tone. 
 
 "What harm!" cried Leon with some 
 heat. "Is it then nothing for him to be 
 ever pursued by the memory of a charming 
 woman whom he loves for her grace and 
 spirit, the possession of whom caused him 
 such exquisite pleasure, and who now ob- 
 stinately conceals herself from his sight 
 and his affection — a woman who, appar- 
 ently, only aroused his passion to forsake 
 him at once, and who only preserves just 
 such relations with him as may keep alive 
 a desire that she never means to gratify? 
 He is a husband and a father, and yet may 
 not know the objects of the most natural of 
 sentiments; he does not even know their 
 whereabouts, though he is followed, found,
 
 74 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 and disposed of at will. Obligations are 
 forced on him while he, less fortunate than 
 the lowest of men, will never enjoy the re- 
 ward of that domestic happiness which is 
 open to all except himself." 
 
 "Oh, admit there is some exaggeration 
 in all this. What is to prevent him from 
 marrying*?" 
 
 "But how can he, madame*? Even sup- 
 posing time should at length wear out the 
 deep impression made on him by his tran- 
 sient happiness, can he be said to belong to 
 himself now"? As long as she he loves is 
 free, can he cease to be so too*? If that odd 
 aversion for a natural tie should pass away, 
 and he could some day obtain the hand he 
 has so long desired, how would he console 
 himself if in the meantime he had disposed 
 of his own?" 
 
 "You certainly attribute to your friend 
 very great delicacy of feeling," said the
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 75 
 
 lady, fixing on Leon a glance in which 
 there was both softness and interest. 
 
 He was touched, and went on with in- 
 creasing fervor: 
 
 "And then this ring divided between his 
 child and him, is not that too a chain that 
 must hold him forever? No matter in 
 what position he may be placed, his affec- 
 tion and fatherly care may one day be 
 claimed — he belongs henceforth to some 
 one, though no one belongs to him I And 
 as a finishing touch to a unique situation, he 
 can only hope to find his child by losing its 
 mother I The first sight of that beloved ob- 
 ject will tell him that one dearer yet is no 
 more; and it is only at the price of a hus- 
 band's happiness that he can hope for that 
 of a father I" 
 
 As he pronounced the last words Leon's 
 voice broke ; a tear gathered in his eyes. 
 
 "My word, my dear Preval," said the
 
 76 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 general, smiling, "you have given us so 
 pathetic a picture of the young man's situa- 
 tion that one is tempted to think you are 
 drawing it from life." 
 
 Mme. de B., seeing Leon's emotion and 
 embarrassment, hastened to change the sub- 
 ject. He remained standing against the 
 chimney piece, near the pleasant-looking 
 woman. 
 
 There was a moment's silence. 
 
 "You have roused a good deal of inter- 
 est in your friend," she said gently. 
 "Impossible to depict his feelings with 
 greater eloquence." 
 
 "At least, madame, the picture is a true 
 one, but the campaign now about to begin 
 will distract his mind from his troubles, 
 and the hope of putting a glorious end to 
 a life that offers no prospect of happi- 
 ness — " 
 
 "What are you thinking of, monsieur*?"
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 77 
 
 said the lovely lady. 'If you have any in- 
 fluence over him you ought to use it to 
 turn his mind from so terrible an idea; 
 and tell him it is his duty to preserve his 
 life for that child." 
 
 "But why should he recognize duties 
 that can bring him no recompense? How 
 can he owe his life to those who have 
 spoiled it for him? But," he added with a 
 melancholy smile, "a bullet settles very 
 many questions." 
 
 At that moment the general called to 
 him, and they took their leave amid cordial 
 wishes from their friends for future glory 
 and a safe return. 
 
 "That is a very interesting young man," 
 said Mme. de B. when the general and his 
 aide-de-camp had left; "he has a charming 
 face and a fine mind. It would be a great 
 pity if he perished in Spain."
 
 VII 
 
 FROM that moment Mme. de Roselis 
 (for she, of course, it was) lost the 
 tranquil ease and proud indifference 
 she had flattered herself she would be able 
 to preserve. She now measured the grav- 
 ity and danger of her act by the severity 
 with which the women had judged it, while 
 the light comments of the men revealed to 
 her the magnitude of the debt she owed to 
 Leon's rare delicacy of conduct. 
 
 This consideration increased her regard 
 for him. By degrees the idea that she had 
 injured a man who worshiped her and 
 whom she could not help liking, the peril 
 and glory that hung around him lending 
 him the glamour that women love, and, fin- 
 ally, the element of anxiety about him, — 
 
 78
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 79 
 
 the food on which both love and memory 
 thrive, — all these things helped to waken 
 in her heart a feeling that was new to her. 
 
 She was seized with a longing to see her 
 daughter again, and regain her solitude, 
 and her one thought was to get away as 
 quickly as possible. 
 
 While paying her farewell visit to Mme. 
 de B. she heard that General X. and his 
 pleasant young aide-de-camp were on their 
 way to Spain, where hostilities had already 
 begun. Her heart smote her. She cut her 
 call short; an almost painful restlessness 
 impelled her homewards to hasten the 
 preparations for departure. 
 
 What a difference there was between her 
 present state of mind and that in which she 
 had arrived at the beginning of the winter, 
 when on Mme. de Gernance's pressing in- 
 vitation she had agreed to spend that 
 season in Paris. Cheerful, contented, in
 
 8o LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 the flower of her youth, looking forward to 
 every kind of enjoyment, such was Mme. 
 de Roselis then, and it may be imagined 
 with what favor the beautiful and wealthy 
 widow was received in a society where 
 happiness constitutes a great merit. Mme. 
 de B. was one of the first persons to whom 
 Elinor was introduced. M. de Gernance 
 was an intimate friend of that lady's hus- 
 band, and when the first rumors of war had 
 begun to circulate in the city the idea had 
 struck Elinor to utilize this friendship to 
 procure a better and less dangerous post 
 for Leon. She had given M. de Gernance 
 to understand that the young man had been 
 recommended to her by his family, and she 
 only requested that her name might not be 
 mentioned in the transaction. 
 
 Her intervention was crowned with suc- 
 cess, and then by a coincidence the meet- 
 ing between the two had taken place and
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 8i 
 
 the whole course of her life was suddenly 
 changed. 
 
 Mme. de Roselis then wended her way- 
 back to Touraine, worried, anxious, vexed 
 with herself for the folly that had brought 
 about such unlooked for results. Her lively 
 imagination painted as imminent all the 
 most terrible disasters that could possibly 
 befall, and her heart melted at the con- 
 templation of misfortunes that she was in- 
 venting for herself. She left her black 
 servant in Paris to collect and forward all 
 the news that came in from Spain, for she 
 was beginning to take a keen interest in the 
 events that were passing there. 
 
 At the sight of her daughter she felt 
 her dearer to her than ever; she detected 
 a likeness hitherto unnoticed, and new 
 kisses, fonder than the first, were the result 
 of this discovery. 
 
 More lonely now than she had ever been,
 
 82 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 Mme. de Roselis spent the summer watch- 
 ing the daily progress of her darling 
 babe; every month it grew in beauty and 
 in intelligence. Elinor was charmed; yet 
 frequently she would have been glad to 
 hnd at her side some one who could share 
 her maternal enthusiasm. 
 
 "It is sad, after all," she said to herself, 
 "to have nobody with me who can enter 
 into my happiness and share it with me. I 
 suppose," she went on, with a sigh that her 
 pride promptly stifled, "only a father 
 could take pleasure in these childish things. 
 And even so, who knows, but afterwards, 
 a despotic lord and master might hinder 
 my plans for bringing her up, and his rigid 
 strictness — Ah, but Leon would never be 
 despotic. He has a very gentle expression 
 and a tender smile. He would make a 
 good father." 
 
 Then she remembered that he was fat
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 83 
 
 away, and exposed to all the dangers of 
 war; that he sought death, was perhaps 
 already dead. 
 
 And Mme. de Roselis wrote for tidings 
 from Spain, only regaining her cheerful 
 and proud mien when she learned that 
 M. de Preval was in such or such a town, 
 and in good health. 
 
 As winter approached, her friends, un- 
 able to conceive what was the attraction 
 that kept her away alone, wrote urging her 
 to come up to town and stay with them 
 again. But she could not make up her 
 mind as yet to leave her little Leonie again, 
 for she loved her more passionately every 
 day, and, not caring to inform Mme. de 
 Gernance of the child's existence, she 
 made various excuses for postponing her 
 departure. 
 
 It was not until January that she finally 
 went up to Paris. But all the brilliant
 
 84 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 gaiety and pleasant parties that had so de- 
 lighted her the previous year now failed to 
 interest her at all ; they seemed tedious and 
 insipid. She returned home worn out, and 
 discontented; felt lonely when she got 
 there, and began to wonder whether the 
 independence that she worshiped was not 
 too frequently purchased at the price of an 
 empty heart and the dullness it involves. 
 
 Wearied by the persistent attentions of 
 a crowd of triflers, who were encouraged by 
 her position, she told herself that she would 
 have done better to attach to her side one 
 who would have rid her of the rest; that in 
 society an attractive and beautiful woman 
 needs a protector who will compel all 
 others to respect her; and imperceptibly, 
 the memory of Leon became less indifferent 
 to her. 
 
 Then, suddenly, there came tidings of 
 fierce fighting in Spain.
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 85 
 
 In great alarm Elinor, filled with the 
 gloomiest presentiments, hastened to call 
 on Mme. de B. She found her friends al- 
 ready occupied with the subject that filled 
 her thoughts, but what was her emotion 
 when, after mentioning the names of sev- 
 eral officers who had perished in the 
 engagement, Mme. de B., turning to her, 
 said: 
 
 "Do you remember, madame, that nice 
 young aide-de-camp of General X.'s who 
 told us that strange story? Well, he has 
 disappeared since the battle. He is not to 
 be found among either the living or the 
 dead." , 
 
 Elinor's only reply was a cry of sur- 
 prise. Fortunately for her, all those pres- 
 ent broke into an eager discussion of the 
 news. She listened in silence to conjec- 
 tures each more dismal than the last, and 
 then hastily took her leave. She knew at
 
 86 LOFE IN A MASK 
 
 last that, notwithstanding all her precau- 
 tions, a man had the power to disturb her 
 happiness and influence the course of her 
 life. 
 
 She remained in Paris a month longer, 
 hoping always to obtain reliable informa- 
 tion, but as no news came to throw light 
 on the darkness hanging over the fate of 
 Leon, she decided to return to Touraine. 
 
 In vain Mme. de Gernance, who could 
 not understand her low spirits, tried to dis- 
 suade her from leaving them, fearing, in 
 her uneasiness about her friend's health, 
 lest loneliness might be prejudicial to her. 
 Elinor departed, carrying with her the 
 anxiety and regret that she could not 
 shake off. The sight of her child only 
 increased her sorrow. 
 
 "She has only me now," she said. "He 
 who might one day have taken my place is 
 gone."
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 87 
 
 She watched the post impatiently, but 
 nearly two months passed, and still no 
 news came of Leon's fate.
 
 VIII 
 
 SHE sat one evening in a corner of the 
 park, watching the child at play 
 and musing idly on the man whose 
 image Leonie always called up before her 
 mind. 
 
 Presently there reached her ear con- 
 fused voices, coming from the servants, 
 who seemed to be searching for her. 
 
 "Madame must be somewhere in the 
 park with her daughter," she heard one 
 say. 
 
 "With her daughter I" exclaimed a voice 
 that she recognized as Mme. de Ger- 
 nance's. 
 
 At the same moment that lady came in 
 sight, and the two friends fell into each 
 other's arms. 
 
 88
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 89 
 
 "Dear Elinor," said her visitor affection- 
 ately, "my anxiety about you gave me no 
 peace. Your letters have been so few and 
 far between, and were so sad, that I felt 
 I must come and see for myself how you 
 really were. I have come to share and, if 
 possible, enliven your solitude for a little 
 time." 
 
 But while her friend was uttering her 
 earnest thanks for this mark of friendship, 
 Mme. de Gernance had fixed her eyes on 
 the child in much surprise and curiosity, 
 for she saw that she was treated by the 
 servants as the daughter of the house, and 
 in her baby talk she constantly called out 
 to her mother. 
 
 When they had gone back to the house 
 Mme. de Roselis said, smiling : 
 
 "I see your astonishment, and I can guess 
 your curiosity. Yes, dear friend, I have 
 been keeping a secret from you, a secret
 
 90 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 that I could not bring myself to confide in 
 you. But now, to-morrow, you shall hear 
 all about it, and my story will at the same 
 time explain my sadness." 
 
 Notwithstanding the fatigue of her 
 journey, Mme. de Gernance scarcely slept 
 that night, so great was her anxiety to hear 
 the explanation of what was a mystery to 
 her. 
 
 She was up early in the morning, and 
 hastened to find Elinor, and together the 
 two wandered out into the park to have 
 their talk out alone. Mme. de Roselis 
 walked in silence by her friend's side, a 
 little shy of making this confidence that 
 she had promised. 
 
 At last, hesitating slightly, she thus 
 began : 
 
 "It is too late now, dear friend, to at- 
 tempt to hide from you a secret that I 
 have always wanted to tell you, and which
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 91 
 
 I only delayed because I knew you would 
 not approve. However, since I must 
 confess, the baby who has so excited your 
 curiosity is my daughter. I had so longed 
 for a child, but I could not bear to place 
 my neck a second time under the yoke that 
 had weighed so heavy on me before." 
 
 Mme. de Gernance could not refrain 
 from showing the surprise she felt; but 
 without giving her time to speak, Elinor 
 went on to tell her about the rash scheme 
 she had formed on the voyage, and the 
 means she had adopted for carrying it out. 
 
 She came at last to the birth of the 
 child, but here she was interrupted impet- 
 uously by her friend. 
 
 "What precautions and prudence to 
 bestow on an act of sheer madness ! How 
 much you risked I How could you com- 
 promise in such a way your reputation, 
 and indeed your very life I And why all
 
 92 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 these sacrifices'? Just to grasp an imper- 
 fect happiness you are obliged to hide, 
 and dare not show I So this is to what 
 your excessive caution has brought you I 
 Carried away by your imagination, you 
 have hugged a chimera which led you to 
 refuse the real blessings of life in favor 
 of the hollow satisfaction of following a 
 caprice I Oh, take my advice, lose no time 
 in recalling the father of that dear child. 
 Do not any longer deprive yourself of the 
 pleasures of natural affection and the 
 sweetest of home ties." 
 
 "Ah, it is no longer in my power," ex- 
 claimed Mme. de Roselis. "Listen a 
 moment, and you shall see how I have 
 been punished for the error you so severely 
 condemn." 
 
 Then she reminded her of the young 
 aide-de-camp who had been so much 
 talked about at Mme. de B.'s, and who
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 93 
 
 had been so keenly regretted by everybody. 
 "What I" cried Mme. de Gernance, 
 "was it he*? Oh, what have you done, 
 Elinor? How I pity you I Now you see 
 how your folly has destroyed your peace 
 of mind and happiness, and by a punish- 
 ment that you richly deserve, it is not 
 even possible for you to make any amends. 
 Henceforth you will be a wife without a 
 right to bear the name, and a mother, 
 though you scarcely dare to have it known. 
 You will spend your life blushing for the 
 most natural and honorable of feelings, 
 and you, so beautiful, so brilliant, so 
 richly gifted by nature and fortune, have 
 by your own perverse act deprived your- 
 self of the happiness the meanest of women 
 is entitled to enjoy, the happiness of hav- 
 ing husband and child, the sweetest of all I 
 But there is more in it even than that. I 
 can read your heart; it is useless for your
 
 94 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 pride to try to conceal the fact from your 
 friend and from yourself. Your heart is 
 no longer in your own keeping; you love, 
 you have given it — " 
 
 At this, Mme. de Roselis hid her face 
 in her hands; the tears flowed from her 
 eyes. 
 
 "Dear Elinor," said Mme. de Gernance 
 kindly, drawing nearer to her and taking 
 her in her arms, "when I see you weep, 
 I realize I love you too well to be your 
 judge. Don't grieve any more for an evil 
 that may be remedied. Let us hope that 
 Leon is still alive, and that all may yet 
 be condoned." 
 
 But at that word Elinor's tears ceased. 
 
 "Condoned I" she said proudly. "No, 
 my dear, I do not think I should easily 
 consent to what you call condoning it. 
 I have done wrong, it is true, but not from 
 weakness. I did it on purpose, after long
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 95 
 
 consideration of the troubles I had borne. 
 It is true I grieve over the fate of a man 
 who does interest me, and whose life I 
 have disturbed and perhaps shortened. I 
 cannot be happy again until I know he 
 is not dead; but as for giving up my inde- 
 pendence, and by this change of mind 
 letting people think I had been either 
 weak or inconsequent, this I shall never 
 consent to." 
 
 Mme. de Gernance saw that it was not 
 the moment to attack either the prejudices 
 or the pride of her friend; from that 
 moment, however, Leon became their one 
 subject of conversation, and by thus con- 
 stantly talking about him, Elinor uncon- 
 sciously strengthened the inclination she 
 already felt for him. 
 
 For her part Mme. de Gernance would 
 draw an attractive picture of the happi- 
 ness she herself enjoyed, and which she
 
 96 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 assured her friend might easily be hers 
 as well, Elinor, now touched, and some- 
 what shaken in her resolution, would 
 smile at her friend's advice, and anon, 
 returning to her cherished chimera of 
 liberty, would wax indignant at the sug- 
 gestion that she should give it up, after 
 the sacrifices she had made in its name. 
 Still, on one point the two friends were 
 ever agreed, and that was in wishing that 
 Leon might return. 
 
 Elinor and Mme. de Gernance were one 
 day together, discussing their favorite 
 subject, when a messenger came to tell 
 them that the servant of a traveler, who 
 was passing along the high road, was im- 
 ploring help for his master, who, ill and 
 in great pain, had just fainted away in 
 his carriage. 
 
 Mme. de Roselis at once gave orders 
 that everything possible should be done
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 97 
 
 for him, and urged by compassion, so 
 natural to women, went herself, accom- 
 panied by her friend, to see the sick man. 
 He had been lifted out of the carriage 
 and was lying on the grass, pale, uncon- 
 scious, and covered with blood; his fright- 
 ened servant was declaring that the wound 
 had opened and his master was lost. 
 
 It was at this moment that Mme. de 
 Roselis arrived on the scene; but scarcely 
 had her eyes fallen on the inanimate form 
 before her when she screamed, and, hiding 
 her face on her friend's shoulder, she said, 
 in a stifled voice : 
 
 "It is he I He is going to die before 
 my very eyes!" 
 
 "In Heaven's name," replied Mme. de 
 Gernance in a whisper, "take courage I 
 Don't betray yourself I" 
 
 Those few words were enough to bring 
 Elinor to her senses; feeling the danger
 
 98 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 of the situation, she summoned all her 
 strength and ordered the interesting in- 
 valid to be carried, still fainting, into the 
 chateau.
 
 IX 
 
 WHEN he once more opened his 
 eyes Leon found himself in 
 bed with a surgeon seated beside 
 him. His wound had been redressed, and 
 everything done for him that kindness 
 could suggest. His servant, whom he tried 
 to question, was eager to tell him, in a few 
 words, what had happened, but the sur- 
 geon interrupted him and ordered silence 
 and rest. 
 
 To Mme. de Roselis, who was anxiously 
 awaiting news of the sick man, it was a 
 shock to learn that he was extremely weak 
 from loss of blood and that, in the event 
 of fever setting in, he could hardly be 
 expected to resist it. Perfect quiet was 
 ordered. It was decided that the ladies 
 
 99
 
 lOO LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 must not go into his room, but should 
 content themselves with seeing that he 
 had everything he needed. 
 
 Next morning Elinor rang her bell be- 
 fore dawn, and was terrified to learn that 
 fever had set in during the night, to be 
 followed by delirium. It was only then, 
 in the surprise she felt at her own despair, 
 that she realized how dear Leon had 
 become to her, and she now admitted to 
 herself that she could never be happy 
 without him. Of her pride and futile 
 prejudices nothing remained; her whole 
 being was engrossed by the thought of his 
 danger. Mme. de Gernance was so afraid 
 her agitation would betray her that she took 
 great trouble throughout the day to keep 
 her out of the patient's room ; but the next 
 night, when her household was in bed, 
 and she was once more alone and sleepless 
 in the solemn silence which intensifies
 
 LOVE IN A MASK loi 
 
 suffering and renders fear unbearable, Eli- 
 nor, unable any longer to wrestle with 
 her anxiety, rose and slipped out into the 
 corridor to listen at the door of Leon's 
 room and find out how he was. He was 
 still evidently delirious, and the distressed 
 accents of his trembling voice came 
 brokenly to her ear. Forgetting every- 
 thing but her grief, she opened the door 
 softly and went in. 
 
 The nurse had fallen asleep. By the 
 dim light of the lamp she recognized the 
 pleasant features that were so deeply 
 graven on her memory; but the eyes were 
 now fixed, the face bright with fever; his 
 labored breathing could scarcely lift the 
 sheet that seemed to weigh all too heavy 
 on his chest. Elinor dropped into an 
 arm-chair that was close to the door 
 and hid her face and her tears in her 
 two hands.
 
 102 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 The slight noise she made roused Leon 
 from his momentary stupor. 
 
 "Is that she'?" he said. "Will she 
 come*? I am going to die. Let me see 
 her at last. Tell her I am dying. But 
 where is she to be found? I have lost her 
 — lost her forever." 
 
 He paused, and then began again. 
 
 "My daughter — bring her to me. Can 
 they refuse to let me see my child when 
 I am dying? Poor little thing I Don't 
 try to find your father. You have none. 
 He was not able even to give you his 
 blessing in his last moments." 
 
 This was too much for Elinor, and she 
 burst out sobbing. 
 
 Leon started and turned his head 
 slightly, but his eyes, still fixed, saw 
 nothing. 
 
 "Where is this mysterious hiding place? 
 What do I see on the sofa? It is you, you
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 103 
 
 whom I adore, you whom I sought. I 
 hold you in my arms. But your mask — 
 take off your mask, do take it off. What ! 
 You still want to run away"? No, no, you 
 shall not escape me again." 
 
 As he spoke, he made an effort to raise 
 himself. 
 
 "Leon," cried Elinor, rushing to the 
 bedside, "Leon, stop!" 
 
 He looked up at her, startled, uncer- 
 tain; then, after an instant's silence, he 
 began again more calmly: 
 
 "It is too much. Lift my head. Ah! 
 if I could but sleep !" 
 
 By this time the nurse, roused by Eli- 
 nor's cry, had come forward to support 
 him, but he turned from her, and let his 
 head drop on Elinor's bosom. By degrees, 
 a more tranquil sleep seemed to steal over 
 his senses. 
 
 A little later Mme. de Gernance joined
 
 104 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 them, looking anxiously for her friend. 
 She too had risen before daybreak and, not 
 finding Elinor in her own apartments, 
 had hastened to the sick room, where the 
 spectacle before her eyes arrested her at 
 the door. Leon was asleep, supported on 
 Elinor's shoulder, while she, seated mo- 
 tionless on the edge of the bed with her 
 head bent over her lover's, was vainly 
 endeavoring to check the tears that 
 streamed from her eyes. 
 
 Mme. de Gernance hastened up to the 
 bed. 
 
 "What are you doing here, Elinor^" 
 she said in a low whisper. "How impru- 
 dent you are I" 
 
 "Leave me alone," her friend rejoined. 
 "Nothing will induce me to leave this bed 
 until this unfortunate man is either dead 
 or saved. I don't care who knows that I 
 love him and that I am his; it is a just
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 105 
 
 punishment for my offenses. If only he 
 might live I Nothing else matters." 
 
 Fear of disturbing the patient kept 
 them both silent after that, and Leon's 
 sleep continued as calm as it was sound. 
 
 He had slept several hours when, half 
 opening his eyes, and making an effort 
 to lift the heavy lids, his first glance fell 
 on the trembling Elinor, who was try- 
 ing gently to put him back on the pillows. 
 
 He closed his eyes again. Then, once 
 more opening them, "Where am I*?" he 
 said in a weak voice. 
 
 Then, seeing that he was almost in the 
 arms of a woman who did not look like 
 a nurse, he made a movement to try to 
 help her to set down her burden. His 
 eyes, wild no longer, but filled with sur- 
 prise and doubt, followed Elinor behind 
 the curtain, where she was attempting to 
 conceal herself.
 
 io6 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 "Is it a dreamt" he said, speaking with 
 difficulty. "I seem to have seen that face 
 before. Ah, madame, am I to believe — '* 
 
 "He has recognized me," she said to 
 herself in a fright and blushing crimson. 
 
 "Once, I think, at Mme. de B.'s house, 
 but once is sufficient. One could never 
 forget you," and his large, languid eyes 
 were still riveted on her. 
 
 "Be quiet I Be quiet! No more talk- 
 ing. You are ordered the strictest silence. 
 Keep still, and do not even think. Hope 
 and sleep." 
 
 The doctor arrived shortly. He de- 
 clared that the long sleep had done the 
 patient a world of good, that the fever had 
 gone down, and if the temperature now 
 remained steady through the coming night 
 he might be considered to be saved. 
 
 Elinor listened, holding her breath, and 
 drinking in the reassuring words. Her
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 107 
 
 joy, too great to be repressed, brought 
 back a charming color to her pale, wet 
 cheeks. 
 
 When night fell she insisted on taking 
 her place in a corner of Leon's room, to 
 await the dreaded attack of fever. It did 
 not come, however, and the night proved 
 a good one. The following day the doctor 
 announced that there was no longer any 
 danger, but he thought it his duty to warn 
 Mme. de Roselis that convalescence would 
 probably be slow, and that it would be 
 dangerous to move the patient until the 
 wound was thoroughly healed. 
 
 Elinor, making a great effort to show 
 only a cool compassion, trembled with joy 
 at the prospect of the long days to come, 
 when, in sweet intimacy, she would be 
 able to devote herself to Leon and restore 
 him to happiness as she had already re- 
 stored him to life.
 
 io8 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 It was not long before he was able to 
 express his gratitude to the kind chatelaine 
 whom, as he believed, he had seen but once 
 before, but whose beauty, indulgence, and 
 sensitiveness had made the deepest impres- 
 sion on him. 
 
 The two friends hardly left his room. 
 They amused him, read to him, played 
 soft music to him. It was the story over 
 again of Bayard nursed by the two sisters ; 
 nay, it was more. Elinor, ever watchful, 
 seemed to guess and forestall his every 
 want; she always knew how to find for 
 him the easiest position, and she surrounded 
 him with those thousand and one little 
 attentions which add to your comfort 
 without attracting your attention. 
 
 It was then that Leon told them how, 
 wounded severely in a hot fight in Spain, 
 and left on the field of battle, he had been 
 dragged from the jaws of death by a
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 109 
 
 woman, who, touched by his youth and 
 condition, had taken him home with her 
 and nursed him tenderly. He was recov- 
 ering when a troop of guerillas arrived at 
 the place and he was forced to flee from 
 his benefactress' house in order to escape 
 from their hands. After many narrow 
 escapes he had finally reached Bayonne, 
 where he had been too restless to stay long 
 enough to be entirely cured, and the fa- 
 tigues of the journey had brought about 
 the accident to which he owed her generous 
 hospitality. This was his story, and it 
 explained to Elinor the uncertainty that 
 had for so long hung about his fate.
 
 X 
 
 MEANTIME, poor little Leonie 
 was the only person who had 
 a right to feel aggrieved by the 
 arrival of the new guest, for she was care- 
 fully excluded from his room, where her 
 high spirits might have appeared too 
 boisterous. Elinor had a feeling of shame 
 about showing her to Leon, as if she feared 
 that he might guess his own interest in 
 her; but the child, having been accustomed 
 to be always with her mother, was con- 
 stantly running after her. 
 
 Finding the sick man's door ajar, one 
 day, she softly pushed it, and put her 
 pretty head through to look in. Her 
 eyes, both timid and inquisitive, fell on 
 the stranger whom she had never yet seen. 
 
 110
 
 LOVE IN A MASK iii 
 
 Leon was the first to catch sight of her. 
 He called out in surprise. 
 
 "Where does that beautiful baby come 
 from^" he exclaimed. 
 
 She had already fled, but her mother, 
 with beating heart and flushed cheeks, 
 called her back, took her in her arms, and 
 placed her on Leon's knees. 
 
 He was conscious of a sudden rush of 
 memory, and in an inexplicable tide of 
 feeling he gazed fondly at her, covered 
 her with caresses, and then inquired her 
 age in a voice that betrayed great emotion. 
 
 Elinor, confused and now convinced 
 that he had guessed the truth, added a 
 year. 
 
 "I should have taken her to be younger," 
 said Leon, with a sigh, and fell into a 
 muse. 
 
 The little girl, having forgotten her 
 fears, now refused to leave the lap of her
 
 112 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 new friend ; nor could he bear to set 
 her down. 
 
 "But I must part you," said Elinor, 
 smiling; "when I see you so distressed, I 
 regret having brought her in." 
 
 "Ah, madame, if you knew of what she 
 reminds me I" 
 
 "But if I may take you to be the hero 
 of an interesting anecdote that I have by 
 no means forgotten, I can easily guess — " 
 
 "Well, yes, madame, it was I, and 
 though she has betrayed and cast me off, 
 after apparently choosing me, I have re- 
 mained in spite of myself faithful to her 
 memory, ever regretting a shadow, and 
 pursuing a vain chimera, unable to die, 
 or to live happy any longer." 
 
 Elinor could hardly keep back her tears. 
 
 "Then," she said timidly, "you love her 
 still?' 
 
 "I scarcely know if I do, if I am weak
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 113 
 
 enough to love her still ; but our meetings, 
 the moments spent in her presence, her 
 grace, even her capriciousness, — all are 
 graven on my memory. She has bruised 
 my soul, and taken the glamour from life 
 for me." 
 
 "Oh," cried Elinor in a heartbroken 
 voice, "such constancy deserves reward. 
 You may be sure that the day will come 
 when she will return, humbled in her 
 turn, softened, to heal the wounds she has 
 caused and to win your pardon." 
 
 "Never I For three years that proud, 
 unfeeling woman has never condescended 
 to send me as much as a word of remem- 
 brance. She has probably gone back to 
 her own land, to India, America, or where 
 not. She has triumphed, and must be 
 laughing at my credulity, and I should 
 like to forget her. Lately I have almost 
 thought it might be possible, and perhaps,
 
 .114 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 indeed," he added, in an altered voice, "I 
 shall succeed only too soon." 
 
 "You will forget her, Leon?' 
 
 The words had been spoken in a voice 
 of such tender reproach that Leon gazed 
 at her. He saw that her eyes were full 
 of tears. 
 
 "Ah, madame," he said, after a mo- 
 ment's pause, "your sympathy is very dear 
 to me I If only she had your nature, your 
 responsive sensitiveness, I should be a 
 happy man to-day. My own child, per- 
 haps as pretty as yours, would be now 
 sitting on my knee." 
 
 Then, turning on Elinor his still languid 
 eyes: 
 
 "And her mother — close beside me — 
 loving — " 
 
 "These recollections only sadden you, 
 and do you no good at all," said Elinor, 
 shaking all over, and picking up her
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 115 
 
 child. "Decidedly, I shall have to part 
 you." 
 
 "Forgive me, madame; I have been 
 dreaming. But why wake me so soon*?" 
 
 Not daring to listen to another word, 
 Elinor fled with her child to tell Mme. de 
 Gernance all that had passed between 
 them. 
 
 From that day, little Leonie was as 
 assiduous as her mother in her attentions 
 to the convalescent. He continually 
 asked for her, and became passionately 
 attached to her. 
 
 The child, for her part, called him 
 her friend, heaped kisses on him, and 
 insisted on being always between him and 
 her mother. Her artless affection for 
 them both gave rise to many an embarrass- 
 ing scene that was fraught with pleasure 
 for Elinor, but left Leon ever more de- 
 pressed and pensive.
 
 ii6 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 Meantime, he was growing visibly 
 stronger; his wound was making progress; 
 time, which passes so swiftly in the happy 
 days of a budding friendship, had brought 
 winter back again with the month of 
 December. 
 
 Mme. de Gernance had for some time 
 talked of leaving them; she now declared 
 she could no longer postpone her depart- 
 ure. Then, all at once, in a voice that 
 showed the effort the words cost him, 
 Leon begged permission to accompany 
 her. 
 
 Greatly surprised at so sudden a de- 
 cision, Mme. de Roselis opposed the plan. 
 
 "Ah, madame," he answered quickly, 
 "pray let me go; I have but too long 
 reveled in a happiness that is full of 
 danger, since it is not for me. Let me flee 
 from you and your child, from the spell 
 of your kind care, and these happy days
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 117 
 
 that fly so fast. Let me return to the 
 solitude that must ever be my lot." 
 
 "But at least, wait till we can ask the 
 doctor if you are fit to — " 
 
 "There are dangers from which the 
 doctor with his science is powerless to 
 preserve me. My destiny is to flee all 
 that is lovable, all that might captivate 
 and charm. I cannot get away from this 
 place too soon — " 
 
 "Well, my dear," said Elinor, turning 
 to her friend, "I must then trust my 
 wounded knight to your care. You will 
 answer to me for his safety, at all events." 
 
 A little taken aback, perhaps, at her 
 letting him go so easily, Leon went out to 
 give the necessary orders for his departure. 
 Elinor followed him w4th her eyes, a smile 
 on her face. 
 
 "Well, perhaps you will be kind enough 
 to explain this new comedy to me," said
 
 ii8 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 Mme. de Gernance in much vexation. "It 
 is clear that he is running away because 
 he is afraid he might love you. Then 
 what are you waiting for^ Why not re- 
 veal yourself, and end this folly that has 
 lasted already far too long? Can you 
 find any pleasure in this new way of tor- 
 menting him?" 
 
 "Ah, dear, how fascinating it is to be 
 your own rival, to win him twice under 
 such different guises! He is true to me 
 even in his inconstancy; he has so much 
 delicacy and honor that he runs from me 
 so as not to betray me. He loved me 
 once; he loves no one but me. How 
 happy I am!" 
 
 "But Leon, poor Leon! When are you 
 going to begin to think about his happi- 
 ness? Say what you have to say to 
 him, Elinor, and let us all go to Paris 
 together, where you can make a marriage
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 119 
 
 that will, I suppose, have no terrors for 
 you." 
 
 "No, I have a plan in my head. You 
 go with him, and I will follow you very 
 shortly." 
 
 "Elinor, Elinor, still romantic, still 
 imagining wild schemes I" 
 
 "Dear friend, only this once. It shall 
 be the very last time, I swear !" 
 
 At that moment, Leon returned. He 
 seemed disturbed and excited. Every- 
 thing was being got ready for his journey. 
 
 Mme. de Gernance, displeased with her 
 friend, but forced to yield to her, went off 
 to make her own preparations. But when 
 the time came to say good-bye, every one 
 broke down; Elinor, in tears, handed her 
 patient over to Mme. de Gernance, who 
 promised to take him home with her and 
 to look after him carefully; Leon, white 
 and grave, stood beside the carriage, thank-
 
 120 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 ing her over and over again in impassioned 
 tones. He constantly left and then re- 
 turned to the child, who cried aloud when 
 she saw her friend going away. 
 
 Mme. de Gernance came close to 
 Elinor. 
 
 "There is still time," she said in a 
 whisper. 
 
 Wavering for a moment, Mme. de 
 Roselis at last replied: 
 
 "No, there is only one way in which I 
 can make that difficult confession." 
 
 Then Mme. de Gernance drew Leon 
 away, took her seat in the carriage with 
 him, and the horses started at once, bear- 
 ing both out of sight.
 
 XI 
 
 ALONE again, Elinor found her 
 solitude unbearable; the happi- 
 ness she had lately tasted could 
 henceforth alone satisfy her heart. Her 
 one thought now was to hasten to rejoin 
 her friend and the man whom she already 
 regarded as her husband. 
 
 A week after their departure found her 
 with her little daughter back in her town 
 house. Mme. de Gernance was the only 
 person who had been informed of her 
 arrival. 
 
 After a long talk, in which she explained 
 to her friend the way — a trifle romantic 
 withal — in which she intended to make 
 herself known to Leon, she succeeded in 
 inducing her friend to help her carry 
 
 121
 
 122 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 out the scheme that pleased her fancy, and 
 the pair separated, having arranged all the 
 details agreed upon. 
 
 The season of the Opera Balls had 
 opened, and Mme. de Gernance invited 
 Leon one night to accompany her to one. 
 He declined at first, with a hot haste she 
 had not anticipated; the scene of the ad- 
 venture that was to have such an influence 
 upon his life had become hateful to him, 
 and he had sworn never to set foot there 
 again. But Mme. de Gernance insisted; 
 she asked him only to lend her his arm 
 until she could find a stranger who had 
 promised to come, and whom she wanted 
 to puzzle. 
 
 Leon, unable to refuse anything to 
 Mme. de Roselis' friend, at last consented, 
 though with inward repugnance, and they 
 set off together. 
 
 His entrance into the ballroom was a
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 123 
 
 painful moment for him; a tumult of 
 memories surged up in his mind. 
 
 Mme. de Gernance made a few turns 
 round the hall with him, and then, pre- 
 tending to have discovered the person she 
 was seeking, she set him at liberty and 
 said good-bye. Scarcely had she left his 
 arm when a voice, in spite of the slight 
 affectation of manner inseparable from a 
 masked ball, made his every pulse leap, 
 uttered close beside him the words: 
 
 "Ah ha, I have caught you, faithless 
 one I It is not for me you are looking, this 
 time, at the Opera Ball I" 
 
 He turned and saw before him — Who 
 was it? His unknown lady herself. The 
 white domino, the mask, even the diamond 
 buckle that fastened her belt which he 
 had noticed on that other occasion, — all 
 were there. 
 
 "It is she I" he exclaimed, seizing her
 
 124 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 aim and slipping it beneath his own. 
 "Have I found you again ^ Is it you I am 
 looking at, is it you I hold? By what in- 
 conceivable miracle — " 
 
 "Is it really so astonishing'? You know 
 my talent for miracles." 
 
 "It is true. It is the only thing I do 
 know about you." 
 
 "But what is past is nothing; there is 
 much more to come. Now that you have 
 fallen again in my power, you may expect 
 the most extraordinary consequences. Your 
 fate is sealed, your destiny is about to be 
 fulfilled." 
 
 But while she talked a growing disap- 
 pointment damped the sudden joy that 
 Leon had experienced at the first sight of 
 her. He was bitterly wounded by the 
 light, imperious tone she had adopted 
 after those three years of total forgetful- 
 ness, added to her other wrongs. All the
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 125 
 
 hard thoughts he had harbored of her in 
 the long interval crowded back now upon 
 his mind. 
 
 He stopped short. 
 
 "Well, madame," he said coldly, "what 
 is it you want of me'? What fresh scheme 
 are you devising? What new way of 
 taking me in'?" 
 
 "Oh, what a change three years can 
 work in a man I Is this the tender, gentle, 
 attentive Leon, who in this very room so 
 fervently vowed to be wholly constant and 
 submissive?" 
 
 "Ah, if I am changed, whose is the 
 fault, cruel one? Is it not your own? 
 For you devoted to my undoing all the 
 charm that has most power over the heart 
 of man, and having betrayed my faith, 
 you cast me off, without remorse as with- 
 out pity. Did you not take a pleasure in 
 teaching me the value of what you cheated
 
 126 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 me out of, and then leave me for three 
 years to my regrets, to forget you as best 
 I could?' 
 
 "Leon, you are too severe. Here I am 
 with you again. I have come back to 
 atone for the wrong I did you, and restore 
 to you all you pined for." 
 
 "Ah, how can I put any faith in your 
 words now'? Perhaps, in a minute or 
 two, you will once more disappear from 
 my view, leaving no trace behind you 
 but the pain you cause me. You are 
 possibly already contriving some fresh 
 ruse — " 
 
 Here she interrupted him, saying in a 
 softened voice: 
 
 "No, no more ruses, no more secrets. Ah, 
 Leon, I too have suffered. But let us for- 
 get the folly and pain that are over 
 now. You may know and claim your wife 
 now."
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 127 
 
 "You did not want to be my wife — " 
 
 "True, but I was wrong; now I have 
 come back to surrender to your love." 
 
 "Once you disdained it — a pure and 
 lasting love that filled my heart for you. 
 What new caprice prompts you now to 
 claim it? Are you sure it still exists for 
 you? Was I to foster an insane passion 
 for an invisible woman who had forsaken 
 me? What makes you suppose me un- 
 changed? Why should I not in my turn 
 reject a chain once hateful to yourself? 
 Why should not I too now cherish my in- 
 dependence? To me its cost is less than 
 it is to you." 
 
 These terrible words smote Elinor to 
 the core. All the gaiety and fond hope 
 that she had brought with her to the ball 
 were gone now. She admitted the justice 
 of the unexpected reproaches with which 
 he had met her advances, and in her
 
 128 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 humiliation, her courage and her strength 
 both deserted her. 
 
 Leon saw that she could scarcely stand, 
 and he led her to a bench away from the 
 crowd, seating himself beside her. For- 
 tunately, the pain she was enduring found 
 relief in tears. 
 
 "Ah, forgive me," said Leon, touched at 
 the spectacle of her genuine grief, "for- 
 give me, O you whom I cannot understand. 
 I am angry now with myself for 
 my misplaced harshness I Only, having 
 received so many marks of your indif- 
 ference, could I expect to find you vul- 
 nerable *?" 
 
 Then he pressed her to drop her mask, 
 and allow him to see her home. At first 
 she was tempted to comply, and to reveal 
 the face that would instantly have dis- 
 armed him; but she dreaded a scene that 
 might attract all eyes to them, and a wish
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 129 
 
 to put him to one more proof restrained 
 her. Drawing her hood down over her 
 eyes, and disguising her voice more care- 
 fully than ever, she said sadly: 
 
 "No, why take me home? The hour is 
 late, and you have taught me circumspec- 
 tion. Why remove my mask? Of what 
 use to know a woman you can no longer 
 love? I can see why you are so cold. I 
 know where you spent your convalescence, 
 and whose hands nursed you." 
 
 "Well, then, madame," said Leon, 
 seriously, "you know also that my grati- 
 tude could not possibly be too warm, or 
 my admiration too high. Yes, I do not 
 deny it. In three months of the most en- 
 dearing intimacy, tended by a woman 
 whose beauty was the least of her charms, 
 a woman sympathetic and reasonable, who 
 unites the dignity proper to her sex with 
 that kindness of heart that is an orna-
 
 I30 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 ment the more — could I fail to appreciate 
 so many lovable qualities'? Could I ever 
 forget her?" 
 
 Elinor, beside herself with joy at his 
 words, felt that if she stayed another mo- 
 ment she would betray herself in spite of 
 her efforts. She rose at once. 
 
 "Be happy then," she said. "Your 
 happiness will be mine. I say no more 
 about myself. I ask nothing; you are free. 
 But would you care to see your daughter*?" 
 
 "Would I, indeed! You cannot doubt 
 it!" 
 
 "Then come and lunch with me to- 
 morrow and you shall." 
 
 She gave him her address, but without 
 adding her name. 
 
 "My people will know," she said. 
 "They will show you in." 
 
 She left, deeply affected by what had 
 passed.
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 131 
 
 "What would have become of me," she 
 said to herself in terror, "what should I 
 have done, if I had never had the oppor- 
 tunity of winning his esteem and his love 
 in another aspect^"
 
 XII 
 
 THAT night was spent by Leon 
 in the greatest agitation. 
 
 At last, then, he had found the 
 object of such keen desire and such lasting 
 regret I Soon he was to know her I He 
 was to see his daughter — his daughter, 
 whose image he had so vainly tried to 
 conjure up. No doubt it was now open 
 to him to take up the position of husband 
 and father! The title for which he had 
 longed was now, probably, within his 
 reach. 
 
 And yet the remembrance of Mme. de 
 Roselis would place itself in the midst of 
 the picture, and the comparison was not 
 to the advantage of the Unknown Lady. 
 
 132
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 133 
 
 Indeed, could any woman match Elinor 
 in his eyes'? 
 
 On the following day, punctual to the 
 appointment, he arrived at the hour named, 
 and the first person who met his eyes was 
 the negro who was so closely associated 
 with his recollections. 
 
 The black conducted him through sev- 
 eral richly furnished apartments to a door 
 which he threw open, announcing M. de 
 Preval. 
 
 Leon went forward, and found himself 
 in a boudoir that instantly recalled to his 
 mind one that three long years had not 
 effaced from his memory. The illusion 
 was completed by the sight of a woman in 
 the same attitude as before, wearing the 
 same dress and seated on a sofa. A child 
 was sitting on her lap. 
 
 As Leon approached, she turned around. 
 
 "What do I see*?" he cried. "Elinor ! Is
 
 134 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 such happiness possible*? Ah I if this be 
 some cruel game, stop, I beg you, or I die 
 before your eyes." 
 
 At the same moment the little Leonie 
 ran to throw herself in his arms, and show- 
 ing him a half ring that was hanging 
 round her neck, she said in her sweet, 
 childish way: 
 
 "Friend Leon, will you mend my ring 
 forme?" 
 
 He glanced at it, made an exclamation, 
 and then, overcome with surprise and 
 happiness, he was forced to drop into a 
 chair, murmuring feebly: 
 
 "Elinor! My daughter!" 
 
 But Elinor was already by his side. He 
 threw one arm around her, and with the 
 other he held their child on his knee. They 
 gazed into each other's eyes, their tears 
 falling, mingling. Neither could find a 
 word to express what both were feeling.
 
 LOVE IN A MASK 135 
 
 Then Elinor, leaning her head softly 
 against her lover's shoulder, said tenderly : 
 
 *'Yes, this is your daughter. And your 
 Unknown Lady, your mistress, friend, and 
 nurse, who in so many different shapes 
 has been caring for your welfare, wants 
 nothing henceforth but to be her mother 
 and your wife. Forgive me, Leon, for- 
 give me all the troubles I have caused 
 you; forgive the wicked folly by which I, 
 too, have suffered; it was the first offense 
 and shall be the last. That haughty, 
 heedless Unknown Lady learned a salu- 
 tary lesson last night at the ball, and your 
 wife will never forget it." 
 
 "Ah, forgive me, too!" said Leon. "My 
 friend, my baby, the dear objects of such 
 anxiety and sorrow, how shall I make up 
 to myself the three years that you have 
 been out of reach of my love I" 
 
 Then Mme. de Gernance arrived, and
 
 136 LOVE IN A MASK 
 
 with friendly cordiality entered into the 
 rapturous joy of the happy couple. But, 
 ever practical and sensible, "Confess, 
 Elinor," she said to her friend, "you would 
 have attained this happy end as surely 
 had you never departed from the path 
 marked out for us by duty and social 
 laws, and you would even have spared 
 yourselves three years of grief." 
 
 "Don't let us say anything more about 
 it," said Mme. de Roselis, kissing her. 
 "Don't let us ever say another word about 
 it. I am wholly converted now. It is only 
 at the expense of her happiness that a 
 woman can attempt to escape from the 
 trammels that have been imposed on her 
 sex."
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A A 000 315 551 2