"
Angelique was pleased with the flattery, even while she knew how
hollow and conventional a thing it was.
"You said all that before, Bigot!" replied she, "and you added a
foolish speech, which I confess pleased me that night better than
now. You said that in me you had found the fair haven of your
desires, where your bark, long tossing in cross seas, and beating
against adverse winds, would cast anchor and be at rest. The phrase
sounded poetical if enigmatical, but it pleased me somehow; what did
it mean, Bigot? I have puzzled over it many times since--pray tell
me!"
Angelique turned her eyes like two blazing stars full upon him as if
to search for every trace of hidden thought that lurked in his
countenance.
"I meant what I said, Angelique: that in you I had found the pearl
of price which I would rather call mine than wear a king's crown."
"You explain one enigma by another. The pearl of price lay there
before you and you picked it up! It had been the pride of its
former owner, but you found it ere it was lost. What did you with
it, Bigot?"
The Intendant knew as well as she the drift of the angry tide, which
was again setting in full upon him, but he doubted not his ability
to escape.
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