Page:Vance--Terence O'Rourke.djvu/52

 would make himself known to me by the password—which you know.

"So—apparently Monsieur Chambret failed in his mission. The rest you know. You came—and now that I know you, Colonel O'Rourke, I thank—"

"Madame!" cried the Irishman arising.

She, too, stood up; her glance met his, and seemed deeply to penetrate his mind. As if satisfied, impulsively she flung out a hand towards him. O'Rourke clasped it in both his own. He felt himself unable to speak; for the moment mere words were valueless.

But beneath his glance the woman colored; her regard of him did not waver; the earnestness of her purpose blinded her to the danger of encouraging that grand amoreux, Terence O'Rourke. Her eyes shone softly and it may have been that her breathing was a trifle hurried.

"Monsieur," she cried, "I—I love my brother. I would save him from—from himself. Will you, then, enter my service—go with him and guard him, stand at his side and by his back, shielding him against assassination or—or worse? Will you, can you bring yourself to do this thing for me, whom you do not know, and for my brother, whom you will dislike?"

"For ye, madame!" he declared. "To the ends of the earth, if need be!"

He felt the pressure of her fingers on his own, significant of her gratitude. O'Rourke bent over the little hand, raising it to his lips. … There was a knock on the door. The woman released her hand, swiftly, with an air of alarm.

"Quick!" she cried. "The key, monsieur! This will be Monsieur Chambret!"