"Besides, Monsieur du Cévennes does not know nor love you."

"I suppose not. How droll it would be if I should set about making him
fall in love with me!--to bring him to my feet and tell him who I
am--and laugh!"

"I should advise you not to try it, Gabrielle. He might become
formidable. Are you not mischief endowed with a woman's form?"

"A mare's nest it is, truly; but since I have entered it
willingly . . ."

"Well?"

"I shall not return to France on the Henri IV," determinedly.

"But Du Cévennes and the others?"

"I shall avoid Monsieur du Cévennes; I shall laugh in D'Hérouville's
face; the vicomte will find me as cold and repelling as that iceberg
which we passed near Acadia."

"And Monsieur de Saumaise?" Anne persisted.

"Well, if he wishes it, he may play Strephon to my Phyllis, only the
idyl must go no further than verses. No, Anne; his is a brave, good
heart, and I shall not play with it. I am too honest."

"Well, at any rate, you will not become dull while I am on probation.