How foolish of you to come here!"
"I have done nothing to be ashamed of," Rupert said. "Besides, I
was ordered to leave at one o'clock, and it is not one o'clock
yet."
"Oh, we are all angry with you, Monsieur l'Anglais, for you have
been deceiving us all for the last three months. But, now mind, we
bear no malice; but pray ride off."
As she spoke she made a sign to Rupert to alight and come to the
window, so that the coachman might not overhear what was said.
"Do you know," she said, earnestly, "that you are trifling with
your safety; and, if la belle Anglaise loves you, with her
happiness? You have already done more than harm enough. The king
has today, when he joined the hunt, presented to her formally
before all the court the Duc de Carolan as her future husband.
Remember, if you are found here you will not only be sent straight
to some fortress, where you may remain till you are an old man, but
you will do her harm by compromising her still further, in which
case the king might be so enraged, that he might order her to marry
the duke tomorrow."
"You are right. Thank you," Rupert said, quietly; "and I have
indeed, although most unwittingly, done harm. Why you should all
make up your minds I love Mademoiselle de Pignerolles I know not. I
have never thought of the matter myself. I am but just twenty, and
at twenty in England we are still little more than boys. I only
know that I liked her very much, just as I did when she was a
little girl.
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