"Your nurse is here; she may overhear us. Come this way," said the
baron.
He left the garden, and Gabrielle followed him to the beach behind the
house.
"Fear nothing!" said the baron.
That speech would have frightened any one less ignorant than
Gabrielle; but a simple young girl who loves never thinks herself in
peril.
"Dear child," said the baron, endeavoring to give a honeyed tone to
his voice, "you and your father are on the verge of an abyss into
which you will fall to-morrow. I cannot see your danger without
warning you. Monseigneur is furious against your father and against
you; he suspects you of having seduced his son, and he would rather
see him dead than see him marry you; so much for his son. As for your
father, this is the decision monseigneur has made about him. Nine
years ago your father was implicated in a criminal affair. The matter
related to the secretion of a child of rank at the time of its birth
which he attended. Monseigneur, knowing that your father was innocent,
guaranteed him from prosecution by the parliament; but now he intends
to have him arrested and delivered up to justice to be tried for the
crime.
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