“Yes, Armand—­now and always,” she answered.

And, so I held her, for a moment; then, bent and kissed her.  And that kiss is on my lips this instant, and will be until they numb in death.

XV

HER WORD AND HER CERTIFICATE

If any man—­having lived a bachelor to early middle life, has then found his ideal, and has been, unexpectedly and undeservedly, favored with her love, and then, within two hours thereafter and in her very presence, has been claimed by another woman as her husband—­that man will be able to appreciate something of my state of mind.  No one else could, so it is not worth while attempting to describe it.

I admit I lay awake most of the night trying to determine how to meet the Spencer woman’s attack.  And I had reached no satisfactory decision when I went down to breakfast.

The formal ceremony of my taking over the Governorship of Dornlitz was fixed for noon.  I would be occupied the remainder of the afternoon at headquarters; and then, in the evening, I was to give a dinner to the ranking military officers in the Capital.  I wanted to get some plan of action arranged at once and, feeling the need of clear-headed counsel, I dispatched Bernheim to the American Embassy with a request that Courtney join me immediately.  I had just finished my meal when he was announced, and we repaired to my private cabinet.

The top paper on my desk was the report of the Secret Police upon “The occupants of the third box on the right,” which I had ordered the previous evening.  I carried it to Courtney and we read it together.  It was long and detailed and covered all the movements of the trio since their entry into Dornlitz.

In effect it was:  That the elderly couple were only chance acquaintances of the younger woman, having met her on the train en route from Paris; that they had reached the Capital the previous day and had registered at the Hotel Metzen as “Mr. and Mrs. James Bacon, New York City,” and “Mrs. Armand Dalberg and maid, Washington, D. C.;” that the Mrs. Dalberg had remained in her apartments until evening, had then dined in the public dining room with the Bacons, and the three had then gone to the Opera; that no callers had been received by any of them, so far as known by the hotel’s officials; that, after the Opera, they had been driven directly to the hotel and had gone into the Hanging Garden and had taken a table; that, presently, the one known as Mrs. Dalberg had intruded upon certain personages of high rank, who were at a near-by table; that, after a rather prolonged discussion, she had been escorted back to her companions, the Bacons (who had, meanwhile, remained at their table) by an Aide-de-Camp of one of the high personages; that the lady in question and the Bacons, very shortly thereafter, retired to their apartments.  At six A. M.—­when the report was dated—­they were still in their respective apartments.