"He must be
very far away by this time."
"Very far away?" I echoed her words blankly. "Yes, Monsieur. Here is
a letter, which he told me to deliver to you without fail. I was not
to leave Chambery until I had put it into your hand, myself. I was on
my way to your hotel, to see if you had arrived. Now that I have seen
you"--here a starry flash at Joseph--"I can begin my journey."
"Where, if I may ask?"
"Towards my home. Monsieur had better read his letter."
[Illustration: "VOILA, MONSIEUR!"]
I had taken the sealed envelope mechanically, without looking at it.
Now I fixed my eyes upon the address, which was written in a firm,
original, and interesting hand, that impressed me as familiar, though
I could not think where I had seen it. Certainly, so far as I could
remember, in all my journeyings with him I had never happened to see
the Boy's handwriting. Yet Innocentina said this letter was from him.
Suddenly it occurred to me that I could do something more enlightening
than stare at the envelope: I could open it. I did so, breaking a seal
with the same monogram I had noticed on the gold fittings in the
celebrated bag. Apparently the entwined letters were M.R.L.
"Forgive me, dear Man," were the first words I read, and they rang
like a knell in my heart. Without going further I knew what was
coming. I was to hear that I had lost the Boy.
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