So, smiling in a way to give some hope to this new lover, she
drew back a few steps and said: "You might make me regret my
confidence."
"The imagination of a young girl is more rapid than that of a woman,"
he answered, laughing.
"A young girl has more to lose than a woman."
"True; those who carry a treasure ought to be distrustful."
"Let us quit such conventional language," she said, "and talk
seriously. You are to give a ball at Saint-James. I hear that your
headquarters, arsenals, and base of supplies are there. When is the
ball to be?"
"To-morrow evening."
"You will not be surprised if a slandered woman desires, with a
woman's obstinacy, to obtain a public reparation for the insults
offered to her, in presence of those who witnessed them. I shall go to
your ball. I ask you to give me your protection from the moment I
enter the room until I leave it. I ask nothing more than a promise,"
she added, as he laid his hand on his heart. "I abhor oaths; they are
too like precautions. Tell me only that you engage to protect my
person from all dangers, criminal or shameful. Promise to repair the
wrong you did me, by openly acknowledging that I am the daughter of
the Duc de Verneuil; but say nothing of the trials I have borne in
being illegitimate,--this will pay your debt to me. Ha! two hours'
attendance on a woman in a ball-room is not so dear a ransom for your
life, is it? You are not worth a ducat more.
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