Zibelline | Page 9

there a row in the family?" inquired Heloise.
"As if there could be!"
"What is it, then?"
"You see Henri, do you not?"
"Well, yes, I do, certainly. What then?"
"Then look at him long and well, for you will not see him again in
many a day. He is going to Mexico!"
"To exploit a mine?"
"Yes, Heloise," the officer replied, "a mine that will make the walls of
Puebla totter."
"In that case, good luck, my General!" said the duenna, presenting arms

with her umbrella.
Fanny could not repress a smile in spite of her tears. Her lover seized
this moment to withdraw from her arms and reach the stairs.
"And now, Marquis de Prerolles, go forth to battle!" cried the old
actress to him over the banisters, with the air of an artist who knows
her proper cue.
CHAPTER VII
THE VOW
Notwithstanding the desire expressed by his mistress, Henri firmly
decided not to repeat that farewell scene.
The matter that concerned him most was the wish not to depart without
having freed himself wholly from his debt to Paul Landry. Fortunately,
because of a kindly interest, as well as on account of the guaranty of the
Duc de Montgeron, a rich friend consented to advance the sum; so that,
one week before the day appointed for payment, the losing player was
able to withdraw his signature from the hands of his greedy creditor.
Relieved from this anxiety, Henri had asked, the night before the day
set for departure, for leave of absence for several hours, in order to visit
for the last time a spot very dear to him, upon whose walls placards
now hung, announcing the sale of the property to take place on the
following morning.
No one received warning of this visit in extremis save the steward, who
awaited his master before the gates of the chateau, the doors and
windows of which had been flung wide open.
At the appointed hour the visitor appeared at the end of the avenue,
advancing with a firm step between two hedges bordered with poplars,
behind which several brood-mares, standing knee-deep in the rich grass,
suckled their foal.

The threshold of the gate crossed, master and man skirted the lawn,
traversed the garden, laid out in the French fashion, and, side by side,
without exchanging a word, mounted the steps of the mansion. Entering
the main hall, the Marquis, whose heart was full of memories of his
childhood, stopped a long time to regard alternately the two suites of
apartments that joined the vestibule to the two opposite wings. Making
a sign to his companion not to follow him, Henri then entered the vast
gallery, wherein hung long rows of the portraits of his ancestors; and
there, baring his head before that of the Marshal of France whose name
he bore, he vowed simply, without excitement, and in a low tone, either
to vanquish the enemy or to add, after the manner of his forbears, a
glorious page to his family's history.
The object of his pilgrimage having thus been accomplished, the
Marquis ordered the steward to see that all the portraits were sent to the
Chateau de Montgeron; then, after pressing his hand in farewell, he
returned to the station by the road whence he had come, avoiding the
village in order to escape the curious eyes of the peasantry.
CHAPTER VIII
IN SEARCH OF GLORY
The next morning the 18th battalion of 'chasseurs', in dress uniform,
with knapsacks on their backs and fully armed, awaited in the Gare de
Lyon the moment to board the train destined to transport them to the
coast.
At a trumpet-call this movement was executed in silence, and in perfect
order; and only after all the men were installed did the functionaries
who kept the crowd in order take their own places in the carriages,
leaving a throng of relatives and friends jostling one another upon the
quay.
Fanny Dorville and her friend the duenna tried in vain to reach the
compartment wherein Henri had his place, already in marching order;
the presence of the Duc and the Duchesse de Montgeron prevented the
two women from approaching him. Nevertheless, at the moment when

the train began to move slowly out of the station, an employee found
the means to slip into the hands of the Marquis a small packet
containing the little fetich which his mistress had kept for him. It was a
medallion of the Holy Virgin, which had been blessed at Notre-Dame
des-Victoires, and it was attached to a long gold chain.
Thirty-six hours later, on the evening of the 26th of June, the battalion
embarked aboard the Imperial, which, with steam up, was due to leave
the Toulon roadstead at daybreak. At the moment of getting under
weigh, the