Traitor and True

remove Louis XIV. from the throne of France and to place upon that throne Louis, Prince and Chevalier de Beaurepaire, a man

were hardly ever held twice in the same place, and that, as had happened before now, many such meetings had even taken place outside of France itself. Amongst those who thus masqueraded under such aliases--and they were many--were the Prin

siderable source of revenue. One of the old original taxes of this nature had long been submitted to by the Normans, but the imposition of a new one had caused the discontent that gradually grew into a plo

country were willing to supply the Norman conspirators with money, arms and men, Quillebeuf, at the mouth of the Seine in the Bay of Le Havre, might easily be seized by a hostile fleet. And, since half the country between that place and Paris would be favourable to the designs of the invaders, six hundred men well mounted and equipped could e

Brussels--in spite of his seventy-four years of age!--there to draw the promised sum over and above the trifl

ably would have done so if his sense of rectitude and plain-dealing had been as considerable as were his acquirements--"the signal is made by

f the paper: "His Majesty King Louis XIV. is about to create two new marshal

ugh that, however much the other persons present might understand these apparently uninteresting portion

They have been inserted; therefore we have won Spain to our side. The fleet specially belonging to Holland will embark six thousand men at a given moment; arms and weapons for tw

en put in. "We want money badly in spite of having already r

n De Beaurepaire's face. "It is far away," she continued, speaking with emphasis

Spain is doing the business in company with the Normans in the North-West

rance said, her eyes stil

a certain grande dame de par le monde who will pass through Basle from Nancy on her road to Italy. You know that, Madame

e raised to them, while her usual pallor had once more given w

escort as far as Basle, whence she may cross the St. Gothard or go to Geneva if she decides to pass the St.

fathers bore," that

they, perforce, must find themselves at Basle, though not necessarily at Geneva, it is to Basle that Van den Enden will go. Thence, from that place, they can all retu

g round on all present. "I who am Norman as La Truaumont, Boisfleury and Fleur de Mai are? Thoug

een signed by the actual names of the writers instead of by assumed ones, would have meant death to each and all: letters that now, old and dingy and with the black ink turned red and rusty, still repose in the archives of Paris. Yet letters now--and long ago--known to

h men as these at their backs and with, towering over all, the wealth and power of Spain--though they forgot that Spain could scarcely be still powerful

Beaurepaire by first sending his news in cypher to Basle, whence it would be re-written and sent to him, whi

at part you have next to play? There are no more hesitating Norman nobles or gentlemen left in Paris for you to watch; they have all returned to th

I can do

more cheerful circumstances than this," now looking round the room they were in with a glance that might have been considered as embracing the whole of Van

me? I have no hopes. Or only one--which will never be realised. My greatest

f his features so that, for the moment, he presented the appearance of a tender father talking to an unhappy child: "Be cheered. If that which we hope for and, hoping, greatly dare to at

d. "Impossible. What I wish for he ca

ate, and, though many a silken thread

nce said, her eyes cast down, her breast heaving painf

while they could not hear his words, neither should they see the movement of his lips, which movement, on occasions, will sometimes tell as much as words themselves. "A silken thread! What species of cord, of thong is that to hold a strong, reckless

ered, lifting her eyes

, intrigue, follow, dare all for him they love: who will bravely bear the cords, the threads that make them regard the block, the

n gasped in an

help him, women who will keep steady before their eyes, even as he keeps, as all of us keep before our eyes, the diadem of France, the throne of France--France itself, on one side? As also he ke

ture murmured. "He is De

villy, wickedly, entreated by the land she now hopes t

uch," the other whi

ns. Emérance, to-night he will confide in you a great task; he will put himself, his life, his honour, the honour of his house in your hands; he will place in your hands the chance of sending him to that wheel, that gibbet

of La Truaumont, "he knows I love him. Alas! the shame that any

Emérance, do you not know something on your part of ho

*

city. Van den Enden and De Beaurepaire were in another room concluding their last arrangements for communicating with each other when the former should have reached Brussels. And E

sill while idly toying with a flower that grew, or half-grew and half-withered away, in an imitation N

d strike another hour, De Beaurepaire would have confided to her some task which, while it raised her from the almost degraded position of a spy--from the hateful task of watching Norman gentlemen

nd this was, or would have been with many women, the greatest of all--the deadly peril in which she herself must stand henceforth, weighed with her in comparison with a fourth. In comparison with the fact that, henceforth, no matter whether the Great Attempt succeed

far, far above her; as high above her as the eagle soaring in the skies is above the field-mouse; while, if the success were achieved, he would be as much more above her as the sun in its mid-day spl

at they may dare to crave, all they can hope for. Happy are some women to obtain so much as tha

heard a step taken into the room and, next, the voice of De Beaur