For two hours she had been awaiting his coming, concealed behind a hedge.
"I have something to give you, my lord Marquis," said she.
He took the letter that she held out to him, and, opening it, he read,-- "You said that I did not love you--perhaps this was but a test to prove my love.

I am ready to fly with you to-night.

I shall lose all, but it will be for your sake.

Reflect, Norbert; there is yet time, but to-morrow it will be too late." These were the words that Mademoiselle de Laurebourg had had the courage to pen, which to the former lover were full of the most thrilling eloquence.

The usually bold, firm writing of Diana was, in the letter before him, confused and almost illegible, showing the writer's frame of mind.