第23章

"You are quite right," answered she."I came here to meet your son, and therefore you will pardon me if I take my leave of you."With a deep courtesy she was about to move away, when the Duke laid a restraining grip upon her arm.

"Permit me, my child," said he, endeavoring to put on a kind and paternal tone,--"let me say a few words to you.Do you know why Norbert did not come to meet you?""He has doubtless some very good reason.""My son is locked up in a room, and my servants have my orders to prevent his making his escape by force, if necessary.""Poor fellow! He deserves the deepest commiseration."The Duke was much surprised at this piece of impertinence, as he considered it.

"I will tell you," returned he in tones of rising anger, "how it comes that I treat my son, the heir to my rank and fortune, in this manner."He looked savagely angry as he spoke, but Diana answered negligently, "Pray go on; you quite interest me.""Well then, listen to me.I have chosen a wife for Norbert; she is as young as you are--beautiful, clever, and wealthy.""And of noble birth, of course."

The sarcasm conveyed in this reply roused the Duke to fury.

"Fifteen hundred thousand francs as a marriage portion will outweigh a coat of arms, even though it should be a tower argent on a field azure." The Duke paused as he made this allusion to the Laurebourg arms, and then continued, "In addition to this, she has great expectations; and yet my son is mad enough to refuse the hand of this wealthy heiress.""If you think that this marriage will cause your son's happiness, you are quite right in acting as you have done.""Happiness! What has that to do with the matter, as long as it adds to the aggrandizement of our house and name? I have made up my mind that Norbert shall marry this girl; I have sworn it, and I never break my oath.I told him this myself."Diana suffered acutely, but her pride supported her, whilst her confidence in Norbert was so great that she had the boldness to inquire, "And what did he say to that?""Norbert will become a dutiful son once more when he is removed from the malignant influence which has been so injurious to him," returned the Duke fiercely.

"Indeed."

"He will obey me, when I show him that though he may not value his name and position, there are others who do so; and that many a woman would fight a brave battle for the honor of being the Duchess of Champdoce.Young lady, my son is a mere boy; but I have known the world, and when I prove to the poor fool that it was only grasping ambition which assumed the garb of love, he will renounce his folly and resume his allegiance to me.I will tell him what I think of the poverty-stricken adventuresses of high birth, whose only weapons are their youth and beauty, and with which they think that they can win a wealthy husband in the battle of life.""Continue, sir," broke in Diana haughtily."Insult a defenceless girl with her poverty! It is a noble act, and one worthy of a high-born gentleman like yourself!""I believed," said the Duke, "that I was addressing the woman whose advice had led my son to break into open rebellion against my authority.Am I right or wrong? You can prove me to be mistaken by urging upon Norbert the necessity for submission."She made no reply, but bent her head upon her bosom.

"You see," continued the Duke, "that I am correct, and that if you continue to act as you have done, I shall be justified in retaliating in any manner that I may deem fit.You have now been warned.Carry on this intrigue at your peril."He placed such an insulting emphasis upon the word "intrigue" that Diana's anger rose to boiling point.At that instant, for the sake of vengeance, she would have risked her honor, her ambition, her very life itself.

Forgetting all prudence, she cast aside her mask of affected indifference, and, with her eyes flashing angry gleams of fire, and her cheeks burning, she said,--"Listen to me.I, too, have sworn an oath, and it is that Norbert shall be my husband; and I tell you that he shall be so! Shut him up in prison, subject him to every indignity at the hands of your menials, but you will never break his spirit, or make him go back from his plighted word.If I bid him, he will resist your will even unto the bitter end.He and I will never yield.Believe me when I tell you, that before you attack a young girl's honor, you had better pause; for one day she will be a member of your family.Farewell."Before the Duke could recover his senses, Diana was far down the path on her way homewards; and then he burst into a wild storm of menaces, oaths, and insults.He fancied that he was alone, but he was mistaken;for the whole of that strange scene had a hidden witness, and that witness was Daumon.He had heard of the treatment of the young Marquis from one of his servants at the Chateau, and his first thought had been to acquaint Diana with it.Unfortunately he saw no means of doing this.He dared not go to Laurebourg, and he would have died sooner than put pen to paper.He was in a position of the deepest embarrassment when the idea struck him of going to the lovers'