"Yes, yes; I am," said Guerchard hastily; and he went quickly to the door and opened it: "Dieusy!" he called. "Dieusy! Mademoiselle Kritchnoff is at liberty. Tell her so, and bring her in here."
Lupin started back, flushed and scowling; he cried: "With these things on my hands! . . . No! . . . I can't see her!"
Guerchard stood still, looking at him. Lupin's scowl slowly softened, and he said, half to himself, "But I should have liked to see her . . . very much . . . for if she goes like that . . . I shall not know when or where——" He stopped short, raised his eyes, and said in a decided tone: "Ah, well, yes; I should like to see her."
"If you've quite made up your mind," said Guerchard impatiently, and he went into the anteroom.
Lupin stood very still, frowning thoughtfully. He heard footsteps on the stairs, and then the voice of Guerchard in the anteroom, saying, in a jeering tone, "You're free, mademoiselle; and you can thank the Duke for it. You owe your liberty to him."
"Free! And I owe it to him?" cried the voice of Sonia, ringing and golden with extravagant joy.
