"Ah, madame!" cried the youth, "it is true, is it not, that you know nothing of the persecution to which we are subjected!" "Did you suspect me for an instant, Ascanio?" said the duchess; "in that case you have every reason to hate me, and I can only bewail in silence my ill fortune in being so little known to him I know so well." "No, madame, no," said Ascanio; "I was told that you were responsible for it all, but I refused to believe it." "'T was well done of you! Ascanio, you do not love me, but with you hatred at least is not synonymous with injustice. You were right, Ascanio; not only am I not responsible for it, but I knew nothing whatever about it. It was the provost, Messire d'Estourville: he learned the whole story, I know not how, told it all to the king, and obtained from him the order to arrest you and recover Colombe." "And Colombe is with her father?" demanded Ascanio eagerly. "No, Colombe is with me." "With you, madame!" cried the young man. "Why with you?" "She is very lovely, Ascanio," murmured the duchess, "and I can understand why you prefer her to all the women in the world, even though the most loving of them all offers you the richest of duchies." "I love Colombe, madame," said Ascanio, "and you know that love, which is a treasure sent from Heaven, is to be preferred to all earthly treasures." "Yes, Ascanio, yes, you love her above everything. For a moment I hoped that your passion for her was only a passing fancy; I was mistaken. Yes, I realize now," she added with a sigh, "that to keep you apart any longer would be to run counter to God's will." "Ah, madame!" cried Ascanio, clasping his hands, "God has placed in your hands the power to bring us together. Be noble and generous to the end, madame, and make two children happy who will love you and bless you all their lives." "Yes," said the duchess. "I am vanquished, Ascanio; yes, I am ready to protect and defend you; but alas! it may be too late even now." "Too late! what do you mean?" cried Ascanio. "It may be, Ascanio, it may be that at this moment I am lost myself." "Lost, madame! how so, in God's name?" "For having loved you." "For having loved me! You, lost because of me!" "Yes, imprudent creature that I am, lost because of you; lost because I wrote to you." "How so? I do not understand you, madame." "You do not understand that the provost, armed with an order from the king, has directed a general search to be made at the Hôtel de Nesle? You do not understand that this search, the principal purpose of which is to find proofs of your affair with Colombe, will be most rigorously carried out in your bedroom." "What then?" demanded Ascanio, impatiently.