"No, so much the worse for Monsieur Bouverie," said her aunt shrewdly; "the cold, implacable man is to be feared rather than the angry one. My dear Adrienne, when Guy looks at me so straightly, I squirm. I'm afraid of him." At six o'clock the library door opened. Monsieur Bouverie was the first one to leave. Adrienne could not help glancing through the salon windows at him as he strode down the avenue. His shoulders were hunched up. He looked, Adrienne told her aunt, crushed and defeated. Guy and his lawyer still remained in the library. When seven o'clock came Guy came out of the room, pushing his hair back with one hand. "Phew!" he said as he came across Adrienne in the hall. "We have had warm work in there, and tough too, but thank God it is over." "Is he routed?" Adrienne asked. "He either fulfils our terms, or he stands committed to trial in Orleans." Adrienne softly clapped her hands. "The villain is unmasked and defeated," she said; "and what about the Château?" "It's mine," said Guy laconically. They were standing by the open door as they talked. Guy said he wanted air. Then with happy eyes Adrienne leant against the massive oak door. Putting her lips against it she kissed it. "Darling old Château," she said, "you've been rescued! I'm so thankful. I believe you'd have broken my heart if you'd gone out of the family." "Why, Adrienne, do you love it so?" Guy's tone was almost impetuous for him. Adrienne laughed up at him. "I'm so glad and happy that I could dance a jig here and now!" she said recklessly. "Who wouldn't love the darling old place? It always seems to wear a smile for me. Come outside and have a good look at it." She pulled him by the sleeve. Together they stood out upon the terrace gazing up at the old building. Its roof was getting golden with moss and lichen. Red Virginia creeper was climbing up its walls. The woods above it, the gardens and bit of park round it were all tinted with russet brown and gold. The smell of wood fires came out of its old chimneys, for now the evenings were chilly, the Countess had fires burning in her rooms. Guy looked up at it, and then at the girl by his side. He gave a short sharp sigh, and said: "Yes, it might be a very happy home." Then with alacrity, he moved into the house. "I want to tell ma mére, and get her to have Grougan to dinner. We shall still have business to do afterwards." Adrienne followed him into the salon, where the Countess sat in state. "Have you had success?" she asked. "It is not absolutely certain whether he will fight us or not. He will let us know his answer to-morrow. But he knows he hasn't a leg to stand upon. One or two flagrant bits of dishonesty would be quite enough to condemn him. I've offered to let him off prosecution if he will pay up for his frauds. One doesn't want to hound the fellow to death, and I do not think you, ma mére, could stand cross-examination in a French Hall of Justice."