[Illustration: "_I plucked him off the duke and flung him on his back on the sands_,"] THE INDISCRETION OF THE DUCHESS _Being a Story Concerning Two Ladies, a Nobleman, and a Necklace_ BY ANTHONY HOPE AUTHOR OF "THE PRISONER OF ZENDA," ETC. NEW YORK 1894 CONTENTS. I. A MULTITUDE OF GOOD REASONS II. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF A SUPPER-TABLE III. THE UNEXPECTED THAT ALWAYS HAPPENED IV. THE DUCHESS DEFINES HER POSITION V. A STRATEGIC RETREAT VI. A HINT OF SOMETHING SERIOUS VII. HEARD THROUGH THE DOOR VIII. I FIND THAT I CARE IX. AN UNPARALLELED INSULT X. LEFT ON MY HANDS XI. A VERY CLEVER SCHEME XII. AS A MAN POSSESSED XIII. A TIMELY TRUCE XIV. FOR AN EMPTY BOX XV. I CHOOSE MY WAY XVI. THE INN NEAR PONTORSON XVII. A RELUCTANT INTRUSION XVIII. A STRANGE GOOD HUMOR XIX. UNSUMMONED WITNESSES XX. THE DUKE'S EPITAPH XXI. A PASSING CARRIAGE XXII. FROM SHADOW TO SUNSHINE THE INDISCRETION OF THE DUCHESS. CHAPTER I. A Multitude of Good Reasons. In accordance with many most excellent precedents, I might begin by claiming the sympathy due to an orphan alone in the world. I might even summon my unguided childhood and the absence of parental training to excuse my faults and extenuate my indiscretions. But the sympathy which I should thus gain would be achieved, I fear, by something very like false pretenses. For my solitary state sat very lightly upon me--the sad events which caused it being softened by the influence of time and habit--and had the recommendation of leaving me, not only free to manage my own life as I pleased, but also possessed of a competence which added power to my freedom. And as to the indiscretions--well, to speak it in all modesty and with a becoming consciousness of human frailty, I think that the undoubted indiscretions--that I may use no harder term--which were committed in the course of a certain fortnight were not for the most part of my doing or contriving. For throughout the transactions which followed on my arrival in France, I was rather the sport of circumstances than the originator of any scheme; and the prominent part which I played was forced upon me, at first by whimsical chance, and later on by the imperious calls made upon me by the position into which I was thrust.