"Listen to me, Victoria; listen to me, Captain Marion; listen to me, Schanvoch," replied the governor turning towards me. "Yes, you also, Schanvoch, listen to me, you who are as stricken as Victoria. You, who, in your nervous friendship for this august woman, suspected my sincerity; I wish you all to believe me. I have received an incurable wound here, in my heart, by the occurrences of this fatal night; they have bereft us at once, in the person of our unfortunate Victorin and in that of his innocent son, of the present and the future support of Gaul. It was for the purpose of securing and rendering the future certain that I sought to induce Victoria to propose her grandson to the army as the heir of Victorin, and that I have made this journey to Mayence. My hopes are dashed--an eternal sorrow takes their place--" After stopping for a moment in order to allow his inexhaustible tears to flow, the governor proceeded: "My resolution is formed. Not only do I decline the power that is offered me, but I shall also give up the government of Gascony. The few years of life left to me shall henceforth be spent with my son in seclusion and sorrow. At another time I might have been able to render some service to our country, but that is now past with me. I shall carry into my retirement a grief that will be rendered less unbearable by the knowledge that my country's future is in such worthy hands as yours, Captain Marion, and that Victoria, the divine genius of Gaul, will continue to watch over our land. And now, Schanvoch," added the Governor of Gascony turning once more towards me, "have I put an end to your suspicions? Do you still think me ambitious? Is my language, are my actions those of a perfidious or treacherous man? Alas! Alas! I never thought that the frightful misfortunes of this night would so soon afford me the opportunity to justify myself--" "Tetrik," said Victoria extending her hand to her relative, "if ever I could have doubted the loyalty of your heart, I would at this hour perceive my error--" "And I admit it freely, my suspicions were groundless," I added in turn. After all that I had seen and heard, I was, as Victoria, convinced of her relative's innocence. And still, as my mind ever returned to the mysterious circumstances that surrounded the events of that night, I said to Marion, who, silent and pensive, seemed overwhelmed with the tender that was made to him: "Captain, yesterday I asked you for a discreet and safe man to serve me as escort." "You did." "Do you know the name of the soldier whom you picked out for me?" "It was not I who chose him--I do not know his name." "And who chose him?" asked Victoria. "My friend Eustace is better acquainted with the soldiers than I am. I commissioned him to find me a safe man, and to order him to repair after dark to the town gate, where he was to wait for the rider whom he was to accompany on the journey."