WHEN, an hour or two later, an invitation arrived—courteously worded but significantly backed by an escort of half-a-dozen tall archers—for both Jeanne and the Mayor to attend at the Château without delay, Jeanne for her part received it with neither surprise nor . She had felt it especially hard that the only two interviews fate had granted her with the one man who had made some impression on her heart should be , the one by considerations of , the other by the conflicting claims of her profession and its duties. On this occasion, now, she would have an excellent chaperon in the Mayor; and, business being over for the day, they could meet and unbend on a common social footing. The Mayor was not at all surprised either, considering what had gone before; but he was exceedingly terrified, and sought some from Jeanne as they proceeded together to the Château. That young lady’s remarks, however, could hardly be called exactly comforting.  
 
“I always thought you’d put your foot in it some day, Mayor,” she said. “You are so hopelessly wanting in system and method. Really, under the present happy-go-lucky police arrangements, I never know whom I may not be called upon to execute. Between you and my cousin Enguerrand, life is hardly safe in this town. And the worst of it is, that we other officials on the staff have to share in the .”
 
“What do you think they’ll do to me, Jeanne?” whimpered the Mayor, freely.
 
“Can’t say, I’m sure,” pursued the Jeanne. “Of course, if it’s anything in the rack line of business, I shall have to superintend the arrangements, and then you can feel sure you’re in capable hands. But probably they’ll only fine you pretty smartly, give you a month or two in the , and dismiss you from your post; and you will hardly any slight personal inconvenience resulting from an arrangement so much to the advantage of the town.”
 
This was hardly , but the Mayor’s official reprimand of the previous day still in this unforgiving young person’s mind.
 
On their reaching the Château the Mayor was conducted aside, to be dealt with by Thibault; and from the sounds of agonised protestation and which shortly reached Jeanne’s ears, it was evident that he was having a mauvais quart d’heure. The young lady was shown respectfully into a apart, where she had hardly had time to admire the good taste of the furniture and the magnificence of the with which the walls were hung, when the Seigneur entered and welcomed her with a cordial grace that put her at her ease.
 
“Your punctuality puts me to shame, fair mistress,” he said, “considering how unwarrantably I kept you waiting this morning, and how I tested your patience by my ignorance and awkwardness.”
 
He had changed his dress, and the lace round his neck was even richer tha............