Jeanne flushed. She was not without a sense of shame. Her love forVictorine made her sensitive to the stain on her birth.

"Thinkest thou it could ever be known?" she asked anxiously.

"Never," replied her father,--"never; 'tis as safe as if we were alldead. And for that, the living are safer than the dead, if there betight enough lock on their mouths."

"He doth seem to be as much in love as one need," exclaimed Jeanne.

"Ay," exclaimed Victor, "more than ever his portlyher was with thee."