United States or Iceland ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
"Yes," I said drily, my last doubt resolved by the admission; "but that being so, why did Vilain go to the spot?" She grew still a shade paler, but in a moment she answered, "To meet the agent." "Then why did you place the paper in the tree?" She saw the difficulty in which she had placed herself, and for an instant she stared at me with the look of a wild animal caught in a trap.
The evening was so far advanced that it was not possible to be sure that the man was Vilain; but as all depended on seizing him before he had any communication with the Spanish agent, I gave the signal, and two of my men, springing on him from either side, in a moment bore him to the ground and secured him.
If a letter came for him signed Lizzie, or Annie, or Mary, she took the dictionary and tried to interpret it, and in the end called him a vilain and wept. Toward the letters signed "Lizzie" she conceived a deep antipathy. With a woman's instinct she discerned that "Lizzie" was more to Ralph than any other correspondent.
Then, "In case the agent was late," she muttered. "But since Vilain had to go to the spot, why did he not deposit the paper in the tree himself? Why did he send you to the place beforehand? Why did " and then I broke off and cried harshly, "Shall I tell you why? Shall I tell you why, you false jade?"
I asked Vilain to whom he had called, but the young man, turning sullen, would answer nothing except that he knew naught of the paper. I thought it best, therefore, to conduct him at once to my lodgings, whither it will be believed that I returned with a lighter heart than I had gone out. It was, indeed, a providential escape.
Louis, never insensible to his own charms, confided to Mademoiselle on his way to Blois that he had not changed his coat or dressed his love-locks; in fact had made himself "le plus vilain possible," in order to spare the regrets of his cousin Marguerite and her parents that he had slipped through their fingers.
"'What a vilain night! says he, looking out. In fact there was a tempest abroad, and a great roaring, and wind. 'Bring a lanthorn, La Tulipe, and lock my lord comfortably into his quarters! He stood a moment looking at me from his own door, and I saw a glimpse of the poor Biche behind him. "The night was so rainy that the sentries preferred their boxes, and did not disturb me in my work.
"This is a very serious matter," I said. "Are you aware, mademoiselle, why M. Vilain was arrested, and of what he is accused?" "Perfectly," she answered; "and that he is innocent. More!" she continued, clasping her hands, and looking at me bravely, "I am willing both to tell you where he is, and to bring him, if you please, into your presence." I stared at her. "You will bring him here?" I said.
But it soon appeared that Joseph was by no means inclined to accept the crown of Lombardy if it entailed the sacrifice of all hope of succeeding to the French Empire. He had already demurred to le vilain titre de roi, and on January 27th announced his final rejection of the offer.
"I must know the cause of these cries; I must see these children" said Madame de Fleury, getting out of her carriage. Francois held his arm for his lady as she got out. "Bon!" cried he, with an air of vexation. "Si madame la vent absolument, a la bonne heure! Mais madame sera abimee. Madame verra que j'ai raison. Madame ne montera jamais ce vilain escalier. D'ailleurs c'est au cinquieme.
Word Of The Day