"
"That is no right at all. A man's right concerning a woman must be
derived from her own actions. But come inside the church, monsieur."
She made a gesture to her attendants, and reentered the church. I
followed her. We stood together before the font in the dim light.
"And now," she continued, facing me, "suppose I grant that I have so
acted as to give you a right to question me; what then? Is it my fault
that you have followed me this morning? Is it, then, any more my fault
that I have been followed, also, by M. de Noyard?"
"But he must have been here before you."
"What does that prove? A score of people in the Louvre knew yesterday
that I was coming to this church to-day."
"But so deserted a church,--so out of the way! Who would come here from
the Louvre but for a tryst?"
She smiled, indulgently. "Can a thing have no cause except the obvious
one?" she said. "I visit this church once every month, because, obscure
though it be, it is associated with certain events in the history of my
ancestors."
"But," I went on, though beginning to feel relieved, "if M. de Noyard was
thrusting his presence on you, why did he leave before you did?"
"Probably because he knew that I would not leave the church while he
remained to press his company upon me outside."
The low tones that we had to use, on account of our surroundings, gave
our conversation an air of confidence and secrecy that was delicious to
me; and now her voice fell even lower, when she added:
"I take the pains to explain these things to you, monsieur, because I do
not wish you to think that I have intrigues;" and she regarded me fixedly
with her large gray eyes, which in the dimness of the place were darker
and more lustrous than usual.
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