"Come here, my dearest daughter," he said, taking her hand to lead her to the chair which Bois-Doré and D'Alvimar hastened to bring forward for her; "you will restore harmony among us. When the ladies leave the men together, they become bad-tempered, they talk of politics or religion, and on those points no two men can ever agree. You are most welcome therefore, who are as mild and gentle as the doves; come and tell us about your doves, whom, I suppose, you have just been putting to bed." Lauriane confessed that she had forgotten her pets. She felt that D'Alvimar's keen and piercing eye was fixed upon her. She made bold to look at him. It was certain that he bore no more resemblance to Borgia than good Monsieur Sylvain himself. "So you have been quarrelling with our neighbor again?" she said to her father as she kissed him, while she held the old marquis's hand. "Well, what harm is done, since you confess that you need a little contradiction to assist your digestion?" "_Mordi_! no," rejoined Monsieur de Beuvre, "if it were with him I would not confess, for I should simply have committed an everyday sin; but I have allowed myself to fall into a contradictory mood with Monsieur de Villareal, and that is contrary to all the laws of hospitality and propriety. Make peace between us, my dear daughter, and tell him, for you know me, that I am a pig-headed, quarrelsome old Huguenot, but honest as gold, and entirely at his service none the less." Monsieur de Beuvre exaggerated. He was not a very bloodthirsty Huguenot, and religious ideas were sadly tangled in his brain. But he harbored some intense political hatreds and animosities, and he could not hear the names of certain of his adversaries without giving vent to his uncompromising frankness of speech. Now, D'Alvimar had offended him by assuming the defence of the ex-Governor of Berry, Monsieur le Duc de la Châtre, to whom the conversation had drifted. Lauriane, being informed of the subject of dispute, gently delivered her verdict. "I absolve you both," she said; "you, monsieur my father, for the thought that the example of the late Monsieur de la Châtre is not worthy to be followed in any particular save physical bravery and wit;--you, Monsieur de Villareal, for having pleaded the cause of a man who is not here to defend himself." "Well judged!" cried Bois-Doré; "now let us change the subject." "Yes, to be sure, let us say no more of that tyrant!" rejoined the old Huguenot; "let us say no more of that fanatic!" "It pleases you to call him a fanatic," retorted D'Alvimar, who was incapable of yielding an inch; "for my own part, and I knew him well at court, if I had ventured to reproach him at all, it would have been for not being zealous enough in his love for the true religion, and for looking upon it solely as an instrument with which to crush rebellion."