“A strange thing at my age, Seth.  I have thought that no woman is likely to plague me much.”

“Get well into your grave before you think that,” was the answer.  “I’m no hater of women, far from it, and I know a man’s never safe.  Why, a chit of twenty may make a fool of a veteran, and set his tired old heart trying to beat like that of a lad just out of his school days.  Only last year there was a girl in Virginia sent me panting along this road of folly, and I’m not sure it wasn’t Providence which sent me with you to France.”

Beauvais presented a lively scene that day, but it was in vain that Barrington kept a sharp lookout for Monsieur le Comte and his friend.  Many people came and went from the chateau, but they were not among them.  Barrington did not particularly want to meet them, but he realized that circumstances might arise which would make them useful, and he would have liked to find out what position they held among the other exiles in Beauvais.  A prominent one, surely, since the Marquise had fetched them to lodgings in the chateau, and therefore it was possible that Barrington’s arrival had puzzled them.  They might reasonably doubt whether he had any right to pose as an aristocrat and an exile, suspicion would certainly follow, and sharp eyes might be upon him at the ball to-night.  Even as a go-between in a love affair there might be some danger for him, but was his mission only that?

When he left his lodgings that evening he had disguised himself as much as possible.  He wore a cloak which his acquaintances of last night had not seen, he had procured a mask which hid as much of his face as possible.  He went armed, and fastened in the lining of his coat was the little gold star he had taken from the dead man’s coat.  He fingered it through the cloth to make sure that it was safe as he crossed the, square and went toward the chateau.  Seth may have been right, and the six louis thrown away, for no one took any notice of Barrington as he passed into the castle.  Although he gave up his card of invitation, he was convinced that with a little diplomacy and a bold front he could have got in without one.

Exteriorly the castle retained much of its mediaeval appearance, and within the new had been cleverly and lovingly grafted onto the old.  There were still dungeons enclosed in these massive walls, chambers wherein misery and pain had cried aloud to no effect.  There were narrow passages down which tortured men must once have been carried, or at the end of which some oubliette opened to sudden destruction.  Many horrible things must be in the knowledge of this massive masonry.  The great hall, where men at arms, after a foray or raid upon some neighboring stronghold, must have caroused times without number, making the roof ring with their rude rejoicing, was alive to-night with men and women, exiles forgetting their exile for a while or exchanging news which might mean a speedy return to their homeland.  All were masked, although it was apparent that many had no difficulty in recognizing their neighbors under the disguise, but although there were a few brilliant costumes and occasional flashes of jewels, the general impression of dress was sombre and makeshift.  How could it be otherwise when the flight from Paris, or from the provinces, had been so sudden, no preparation possible?