"Well, well; no doubt you know best, and, _certes_, now you remind me, she did turn cold and distant when I spoke of your coming. But let idle prejudices enter into practical concerns--it's on a par--of all improvidence! Why, 'twas not long ago, she brought me a jewel or two; Marie, it seems, had foresight enough to snatch them before fleeing from the Mount, and begged me to take them for our kindness, she said; which I did, seeing she would not have it otherwise--nor let herself be regarded as one who could not pay. But to business, _mon capitaine_!" And thereafter, for some time, they, or rather, Pierre, talked; the others, save the Marquis, returned to the ship, and only Nanette, busy putting everything to rights, lingered in the room. At length, after papers had been signed and changed hands, the conversation of the host began to wane; frequently had he sipped from a bottle of liqueur at his elbow and now found himself nodding; leaned back more comfortably in the great chair and suffered his head to fall. The clock ticked out the seconds; the young man continued to sit motionless. "'_A mon beau_'--" Nanette's voice, lightly humming, caused him to look up; with the old mocking expression on her face, the inn-keeper's daughter paused near his chair. "It was kind of you, _mon capitaine_, to bring to my lady her Marquis!" As she spoke, she looked toward the garden. "Why not?" he asked steadily. "The passport and orders were correct." "Were they, indeed?" she said, tapping the floor with her foot. "You remain with us a few days; or, as of old, must we be content with a brief visit?" she went on. "We leave to-morrow." "To-morrow?" The girl's eyes wore a tentative expression. "Late?" "Early!" "Oh! In that case, perhaps I shan't have time," Nanette paused; looked at her father; old Pierre's slumbers were not to be broken. "For what?" asked the Black Seigneur shortly. "To tell you something!" "Why not--now?" "You--are inquisitive?" "No!" "Even if it were about--" she looked toward the door that led to the garden. "The Lady Elise?" he said quickly. "Oh, you _are_ interested? '_A mon beau_'--" a moment she hummed. "You do not urge me?" "Wherefore," laconically, although his eyes flashed, "when you have made up your mind to tell!" "You are right!" She threw back her head. "I have made up my mind! How well you understand women! Almost as well," she laughed mockingly, "as a ship!" He made no response. "When you thanked me once, _mon capitaine_, for all it pleased you to say I did for you, you may remember," her voice was defiant, "I did not once gainsay you!" More curiously he regarded her. "Perhaps it pleased me," her hand on her hip, "to be thought such a fine heroine. But now," her tone grew a little fierce, "I am tired of hearing people say: 'Nanette risked so much!' 'Nanette did this!--did that!'--when it was she who risked--did it all, one might say."