She will let him steal his own
child; the other, the REAL Lady of Lagunitas, he never shall know.
Gods! If he should be aware of it. It must be prevented. Whom can
she trust? No one.
Villa Rocca? Triumph shines in her eyes! She must definitely
promise him marriage in these happy years, and give him the child
as a gage. He can hide her in his Italian hills. He really has a
bit of a castle under the olive-clad hills of Tuscany.
But Marie Berard. She must outwit that maid. When the child is
gone, Marie's power ceases. No one will ever believe her. A few
thousand francs extra will satisfy the greedy soubrette.
Seizing her pen, she sends a note to the club where baccarat
and billiards claim Villa Rocca's idle hours. He meets her in the
Bois de Boulogne, now splendid in transplanted foliage. His coupe
dismissed, they wander in the alleys so dear to lovers. There
is triumph in her face as they separate. A night for preparation;
next day, armed with credentials in "billets de banque," Villa Rocca
will lure the girl to her mysterious guardian who will be "sick"
near Paris. Once under way, Villa Rocca will not stop till the girl
is in his Italian manor.
With bounding heart, he assents. He has now Natalie's promise to
marry him.
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