第24章

trysting place.The little cry that Diana had uttered upon perceiving the Duke had put him upon his guard.Bruno had found him out; but, as he knew him, merely fawned upon him.He was delighted at the fury of the Duke, whom he hated with cold and steady malignity; but the courage of Diana filled him with admiration.Her sublime audacity won his warmest praises, and he longed for her as an ally to aid him in his scheme of revenge.He knew that the girl would find herself in a terribly embarrassing position, and thus she would be sure to call upon him for advice before returning home.

"Now," thought he, "if I wish to profit by her anger, I ought to strike while the iron is hot; and to do so, I should be at home to meet her."Without a moment's delay, he dashed through the woods, striving to get home without the young girl's perceiving him.His movements in the underwood caught the Duke's eye.

"Who is there?" exclaimed he, moving towards the spot from whence the rustling came.There was no reply.Surely he had not been mistaken.

Calling to Bruno, he strove to put him on the scent, but the dog showed no signs of eagerness.He sniffed about for a time, and seemed to linger near one special spot.The Duke moved towards it, and distinctly saw the impression of two knees upon the grass.

"Some one has been eavesdropping," muttered he, much enraged at his discovery."Who can it be? Has Norbert escaped from his prison?"As he returned through the courtyard, he called one of the grooms to him.

"Where is my son?" asked he.

"Upstairs, your Grace," was the answer.

The Duke breathed more freely.Norbert was still in security, and therefore could not have been the person who had been listening.

"But," added the lad, "the young master is half frantic.""What do you mean?"

"Well, he declared that he would not remain in his room an instant longer; so old Jean called for help.He is awfully strong, and it took six of us to hold him.He said that if we would let him go, he would return in two hours, and that his honor and life were involved."The Duke listened with a sarcastic smile.He cared nothing about the frantic struggles of his son, for his heart had grown cold and hard from the presence of the fixed idea which had actuated his conduct for so many years, and it was with the solemn face of a man who was fulfilling a sacred duty that he ascended to the room in which his son was imprisoned.Jean threw open the door, and the Duke paused for a moment on the threshold.The furniture had been overturned, some of it broken, and there were evident signs of a furious struggle having taken place.

A powerful laborer stood near the window, and Norbert was lying on the bed, with his face turned to the wall.

"Leave us," said the Duke, and the man withdrew at once.

"Get up, Norbert," he added; "I wish to speak to you."His son obeyed him.Any one but the Duke would have been alarmed by the expression of the young man's face.

"What is the meaning of all this?" asked the old nobleman in his most severe voice."Are not my orders sufficient to insure obedience? Ihear that absolute force has had to be used towards you during my absence.Tell me, my son, what plans you have devised during these hours of solitude, and what hopes you still venture to cherish.""I intend to be free, and I will be so."

The Duke affected not to hear the reply, uttered as it was in a tone of derision.

"It was very easy for me to discover, from your obstinacy, that some woman had endeavored to entrap you, and by her insidious counsels inducing you to disobey your best friend."He paused, but there was no reply.

"This woman--this dangerous woman--I have been in search of, and as you can conceive, I easily found her.I went to the Forest of Bevron, and there I need not tell you I found Mademoiselle de Laurebourg.""Did you speak to her?"

"I did so, certainly.I told her my opinion of those manoeuvring women who fascinate the dupes they intend to take advantage of--""Father!"

"Can it be possible that you, simple boy even as you are, could have been deceived by the pretended love of this wily young woman? It is not you, Marquis, that she loves, but our name and fortune; but /I/know if /she/ does not that the law will imprison women who contrive to entrap young men who are under age."Norbert turned deadly pale.

"Did you really say that to her?" asked he, in a low, hoarse voice, utterly unlike his own."You dare to insult the woman I love, when you knew that I was far away and unable to protect her! Take care, or Ishall forget that you are my father."

"He actually threatens me," said the Duke, "my son threatens me;" and, raising the heavy stick he held in his hand, he struck Norbert a violent blow.By a fortunate movement the unhappy boy drew back, and so avoided the full force of the stroke, but the end of the stick struck him across the temple, inflicting a long though not a serious wound.In his blind rage Norbert was about to throw himself upon his father, when his eyes caught sight of the open door.Liberty and safety lay before him, and, with a bound, he was on the stairs, and before the Duke could shout for aid from the window, his son was tearing across the park with all the appearance and gesture of a madman.