"That is well;" and then D'Herouville would seek some other part of the
ship. He ignored Victor as though he were not on board.
"Victor, you have not yet told me who the woman in the grey mask was,"
said the Chevalier.
"Bah!" said Victor, with fictitious nonchalance.
"She is fleeing from some one?"
"That may be."
"Who is she?" directly.
"I regret that I must leave you in the dark, Paul."
"But you said that you knew something of her history; and you can not
know that without knowing her name."
Victor remained silent.
"Somehow," went on the Chevalier, "that grey mask continually intrudes
into my dreams."
"That is because you have been ill, Paul."
"Is she some prince's light-o'-love?"
"She is no man's light-o'-love. Do not question me further. I may
tell you nothing. She is a fugitive from the equivocal justice of
France."
"Politics?"
"Politics."
"She comes from a good family?"
"So high that you would laugh were I to tell you."
"As she left the private assembly that night I caught the odor of
vervain. Perhaps that is what printed her well upon my mind."
"Pretend to yourself that it was attar of roses, and forget her.
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