Adrienne turned and met her husband's tender eyes with perfect confidence. "And now," she said to him, as she slipped her hand into his, "I am yours utterly, and entirely, and for evermore." Guy could make no answer at first; he only drew her closer to him, but after a moment murmured: "May I be worthy of such a gift." And the car glided on, and the journey together through life commenced. CHAPTER XVIII HUSBAND AND WIFE SNOW was upon the old Château, obliterating all paths and flower beds, showing only a wide expanse of pure white around it. The afternoon was already drawing in, lights were twinkling in the village and in the windows of the Château. Inside, there were blazing wood fires everywhere. The passages and floors were like mirrors with much polishing, and Alain was improving the occasion by sliding up and down them. There was a sense of bustle and expectancy in the house. But upstairs, Mathilde and two nurses were in the Countess's room. Only that morning when she had seemed so much better, and had received the news of the bride and bridegroom's return with such pleasure, a sudden seizure had occurred, and she now lay unconscious, breathing with more and more difficulty as time went on. The doctor had been in and out all day, and had tried to give her oxygen, but it only seemed to distress her, and he told her daughter that nothing could save her now. Mathilde heard the car arrive, and swiftly went downstairs. "It's a sad home-coming," she said. "Mother is dying and knows no one. Will you come up, and see if she recognizes you?" Adrienne slipped off her fur coat in the hall and ran upstairs without a word. She was looking radiantly pretty, but now the shock of Mathilde's news paled her cheek and brought sadness to her face. Her husband followed her. In a moment or two, they stood by the large four-post bed, looking down at the fragile little figure in it, so close to the shores of eternity. Adrienne bent over her and took her hand. "Aunt Cecily," she said in her clear voice, "do you know me?" There was a flicker of the closed eyelids, and then they lifted. The Countess's eyes looked dark and blue, but quite intelligent. She looked at Adrienne, then at her stepson, stretched out her hands to them with a smile, and then with rather a happy sigh lapsed into unconsciousness again. She passed away peacefully about an hour later. Adrienne wept bitterly in her husband's arms. "I did want her to have a short time of happiness with us, if only we could have had her a little longer!" Mathilde retired to bed. She had had an anxious day and was quite done up by the strain of it. It was indeed a strange and sad home-coming. Adrienne wired to her uncle, and he arrived at the Château the following evening. Four days later they laid her to rest in the family vault in the little churchyard at the top of the hill.