The House of the White Shadows. B. L. Farjeon

knowing."

      "But being intimate with her, you could scarcely avoid asking her the question."

      "I did ask her, and I was curious to find out. She would not satisfy me; and when I pressed her, she said the other one--Pauline--had made her promise not to tell."

      "You don't know, then, where she was born?"

      "No."

      "Her refusal to tell you--was it lightly or seriously uttered?"

      "Seriously."

      "As though there was a secret in her life she wished to conceal?"

      "I never thought of it in that way, but I can see now it must have been so."

      "Something discreditable, then?"

      "Most likely. Master, you go deeper than I do."

      "What relationship existed between Pauline and Madeline?"

      "Some said they were sisters, but there was a big difference in their ages. Others said that Pauline was her mother, but I don't believe it, for they never spoke together in that way. Master, I don't know what to say about it; it used to puzzle me; but it was no business of mine."

      "Did you never hear Pauline address Madeline as her child?"

      "Never."

      "They addressed each other by their Christian names?"

      "Yes."

      "Did they resemble each other in feature?"

      "There was something of a likeness between them."

      "Why did Pauline leave the girl?"

      "No one knew."

      "That is all you can tell me?"

      "That is all."

      Then after a slight pause, the Advocate asked:

      "Do you value your liberty?"

      "Yes, master," replied Gautran excitedly.

      "Let no person know what has passed between us, and do not repeat one word I have said to you."

      "I understand; you may depend upon me. But master, will you not tell me something more? Am I to be set free or not?"

      "You are to be tried; what is brought against you at your trial will establish either your innocence or your guilt."

      He knocked at the door of the prison cell, and the gaoler opened it for him and let him out.

      "Well, Gautran?" said the gaoler, but Gautran, wrapped in contemplation of the door through which the Advocate had taken his departure, paid no attention to him. "Do you hear me?" cried the gaoler, shaking his prisoner with no gentle hand.

      "What now?"

      "Is the great lawyer going to defend you?"

      "You want to know too much," said Gautran, and refused to speak another word on the subject.

      During the whole of the day there were but two figures in his mind--those of the Advocate and the murdered girl. The latter presented itself in various accusing aspects, and he vainly strove to rid himself of the spectre. Its hair hung in wild disorder over neck and bosom, its white lips moved, its mournful eyes struck terror to his soul. The figure of the Advocate presented itself in far different aspects; it was always terrible, Satanic, and damning in its suggestions.

      "What matter," muttered Gautran, "if he gets me off? I can do as I please then."

      In the evening, when the small window in his cell was dark, the gaoler heard him crying out loudly. He entered, and demanded what ailed the wretch.

      "Light--light!" implored Gautran; "give me light!"

      "Beast in human shape," said the gaoler; "you have light enough. You'll get no more. Stop your howling, or I'll stop it for you!"

      "Light! light! light!" moaned Gautran, clasping his hands over his eyes. But he could not shut out the phantom of the murdered girl, which from that moment never left him. So he lay and writhed during the night, and would have dashed his head against the wall to put an end to his misery had he not been afraid of death.

CHAPTER IX

       Table of Contents

THE ADVOCATE UNDERTAKES A STRANGE TASK.

       Table of Contents

      It was on the evening of this day, the third since the arrival of the Advocate in Geneva, that he said to his wife over the dinner-table:

      "I shall in all likelihood be up the whole of to-night in my study. Do not let me be disturbed."

      "Who should disturb you?" asked Adelaide languidly. "There are only you and I in the villa; of course I would not venture to intrude upon you without permission."

      "You misunderstand me, Adelaide; it is because we are in a strange house that I thought it best to tell you."

      "As if there were anything unusual in your shutting yourself up all night in your study! Our notions of the way to lead an agreeable life are so different! Take your own course, Edward; you are older and wiser than I; but you must not wonder that I think it strange. You come to the country for rest, and you are as hard at work as ever."

      "I cannot live without work; aimless days would send me to my grave. If you are lonely, Adelaide----"

      "Oh, no, I am not," she cried vivaciously, "at least, not yet. There is so much in the neighbourhood that is interesting. Dionetta and I have been out all day seeing the sights. On the road to Master Lamont's house there is the loveliest rustic bridge. And the wild flowers are the most beautiful I have ever seen. We met a priest, Father Capel, a gentle-looking man, with the kindest face! He said he intended to call upon you, and hoped to be permitted. I said, of course, you would be charmed. I had a good mind to visit Master Lamont, but his house was too far up the hills. Fool Fritz joined us; he is very amusing, with his efforts to be wise. I was delighted everywhere with the people. I went into some of their cottages, and the women were very respectful; and the children--upon my word, Edward, they stare at me as if I were a picture."

      The Advocate looked up at this, and regarded his wife with fond admiration. In his private life two influences were dominant--love for his wife, and friendship for Christian Almer. He had love for no other woman, and friendship for no other man, and his trust in both was a perfect trust.

      "I do not wonder that the children stare at you," he said; "you must be a new and pleasant experience to them."

      "I believe they take me for a saint," she said, laughing gaily; "and I need not tell you that I am very far from being one."

      "You are, as we all are, human; and very beautiful, Adelaide."

      She gazed at him in surprise.

      "It is not often you pay me compliments."

      "Do you need them from me? To be sure of my affection--is not that sufficient?"

      "But I am fond of compliments."

      "I must commence a new study, then," he said gravely; it was difficult for him to indulge in light themes for many minutes together. "So you are making yourself acquainted with the neighbours. I hope you will not soon tire of them."

      "When I do I must seek out some other amusement. You have also discovered something since you came here in which you appear to be wonderfully interested."

      "Yes; a criminal case----"

      "A criminal case!" she echoed pettishly.