"Thanks to the assistance of one of my
friends," he wrote, "I can place this proud girl in a perilous,
terribly perilous, position, from which she cannot possibly
extricate herself unaided."
These words persistently lingered in Mademoiselle Marguerite's
mind. What was the danger hanging over her? whence would it come?
and in what form? What abominable machination might she not expect
from the villain who had deliberately dishonored Pascal? How would
he attack her? Would he strive to ruin her reputation, or did he
intend to forcibly abduct her? Would he attempt to decoy her into
a trap where she would be subjected to the insults of the vilest
wretches? A thousand frightful memories of the time when she was
an apprentice drove her nearly frantic. "I will never go out
unarmed," she thought, "and woe to the man who raises his hand
against me!"
The vagueness of the threat increased her fears. No one is
courageous enough to confront an unknown, mysterious, and always
imminent danger without sometimes faltering. Nor was this all.
The marquis was not her only enemy. She had the Fondege family to
dread--these dangerous hypocrites, who had taken her to their home
so that they might ruin her the more surely. M. de Valorsay wrote
that he had no fears of the Fondeges--that he understood their
little game. What was their little game? No doubt they were
resolved that she should become their son's wife, even if they
were obliged to use force to win her consent.
Pages:
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220