Page:Zodiac stories by Blanche Mary Channing.pdf/219

202 careful survey of him without seeming to do so. He was much interested in the case, but when Ellie, on their leaving, said,—"There, Father, don't you think you can cure him?" he looked serious.

"I cannot say, dear; I wish the case were in my hands, but failing that, I can do nothing."

Two days after, the Marquis paid an unexpected visit to Montarbre.

Bertrand's letters of late had been all on one theme, and the Marquis judged it well to see who these strangers who had taken his son by storm might be, and what they wanted. M. de Lys was one of those men who seldom credit their fellow creatures with unselfish motives.

He listened with a smile to the boy's description of his new friends.

"Most charming!" he said. They were sitting on the terrace, and while they talked, Ellie came up the avenue. When