.

THE STRANGE, DARK SECRET.
Julien had once entertained the hope that Claudet's marriage with Reine would act as a kind of heroic remedy for the cure of his unfortunate passion, he very soon perceived that he had been wofully mistaken.
As soon as he had informed the grand chasserot of the success of his undertaking, he became aware that his own burden was considerably heavier.

Certainly it had been easier for him to bear uncertainty than the boisterous rapture evinced by his fortunate rival.

His jealousy rose against it, and that was all.

Now that he had torn from Reine the avowal of her love for Claudet, he was more than ever oppressed by his hopeless passion, and plunged into a condition of complete moral and physical disintegration.