Monsieur Richon's orders?"
"Yes."
"But, monseigneur, what are my men to do in the fort, where there are already about three hundred men?"
"You are very inquisitive."
"Oh! it's not mere curiosity that makes me ask, monseigneur; it is fear."
"What are you afraid of?"
"That they will be condemned to inaction, which would be a great pity; any man makes a mistake who allows a good weapon to rust."
"Don't be alarmed, captain, they won't rust; in a week they will have a chance to fight."
"In that case they may be killed!"
"It's very likely, – unless, in addition to your secret method of recruiting soldiers, you have a secret method of making them invulnerable."
"Oh! it's not that; but before they are killed I would like to have them paid for."
"Didn't you tell me that you had received ten thousand livres?"
"Yes, on account. Ask Monsieur Lenet; he is a man of method, and I am sure he will remember our agreement."
The duke turned to Lenet.
"It is true, Monsieur le Duc," said the straightforward counsellor; "we gave Monsieur Cauvignac ten thousand livres by way of advance for the first outlay; but we promised him a hundred crowns per man."
"In that case," said the duke, "we owe the captain thirty-five thousand francs?"
"Just so, monseigneur."
"They will be given you."
"Might it not be done now, Monsieur le Duc?"
"No, impossible."
"Why so?"
"Because you are one of us, and strangers must be settled with first of all. You understand that only those people we fear have to be coaxed."
"An excellent maxim!" said Cauvignac; "in all bargains, however, it is customary to fix a time for payment."
"Very well, let us say a week," said the duke.
"A week it is," said Cauvignac.
"But suppose that when the week has elapsed we have not paid?" suggested Lenet.
"In that case I resume control of my men."
"That is no more than fair," the duke agreed.
"And I can do what I choose with them?"
"Of course, as they belong to you."
"But – " Lenet began.
"Nonsense!" said the duke in a low tone, – "when we have them safely shut up in Vayres!"
"I don't like this sort of bargain," said Lenet, shaking his head.
"They are very common in Normandy," said Cauvignac; "they are called conditional sales."
"Is it agreed?" asked the duke.
"It is," Cauvignac replied.
"When will your men start?"
"At once, if you so order."
"I do so order."
"Then they are off, monseigneur."
The captain went down into the street and said two words in Ferguzon's ear, and the Cauvignac company, followed by all the idlers whom its strange appearance had attracted, marched away toward the harbor, where the three boats were waiting which were to transport it up the Dordogne to Vayres, while its commander, faithful to the principle of freedom of action just enunciated by him to Monsieur de La Rochefoucauld, stood watching his men affectionately as they moved away.
Meanwhile the viscountess in her own apartments was sobbing and praying.
"Alas!" she moaned, "I could not save his honor unimpaired, but I will at least save the appearance of honor. He must not be conquered by force; for I know him so well that I know that he would die in defence of the place; it must be made to seem to him that he is overcome by treason. Then, when he knows what I have done for him, and, above all, my object in doing it, beaten as he is, he will bless me still."
Consoled by this hope, she rose, wrote a few words which she hid in her breast, and returned to Madame la Princesse, who had sent to ask her to go with her to look to the needs of the wounded and carry consolation and material assistance to the widows and orphans.
Madame la Princesse called together all who had taken part in the expedition. In her own name and that of the Dc d'Enghien, she praised the exploits of those who had distinguished themselves; talked a long time with Ravailly, who, although he carried his arm in a sling, declared his readiness to begin again the next morning; laid her hand upon Espagnet's shoulder, and told him that she looked upon him and his gallant Bordelais as the firmest supporters of her party; in fine, she succeeded so well in inflaming their minds that the most disheartened swore that they would have their revenge, and would have started for Île Saint-Georges on the instant.
"No, not at this moment," said the princess; "take to-day and to-night for rest, and day after to-morrow you shall be in possession there forever."
This assurance was welcomed by noisy demonstrations of warlike ardor. Every shout sank deep into the heart of the viscountess, for they were like so many daggers threatening her lover's existence.
"You hear what I have agreed, Claire," said the princess; "it is for you to see that I do not break my word to these good people."
"Never fear, madame," was the reply. "I will perform what I have promised."
That same evening a messenger set out in hot haste for Saint-Georges.
VIII
The next day, while Canolles was making his morning round, Vibrac approached him and handed him a note and a key which had been brought to the fortress during the night by a strange man, who left them with the lieutenant of the guard, saying that there was no reply.
Canolles started as he recognized the handwriting of Madame de Cambes, and his hand trembled as he broke the seal.
This is what the letter contained: —
"In my last note I gave you warning that Saint-Georges would be attacked during the night; in this, I warn you that Saint-Georges will be taken to-morrow; as a man, as an officer of the king, you run no other risk than that of being made prisoner; but Mademoiselle de Lartigues is in a very different situation, and the hatred which is entertained for her is so great that I would not answer for her life if she should fall into the hands of the Bordelais. Therefore persuade her to fly; I will furnish you with the means of flight.
"At the head of your bed, behind a curtain upon which are embroidered the arms of the lords of Cambes, to whom Île Saint-Georges formerly belonged, – Monsieur le Vicomte de Cambes, my late husband, presented it to the king, – you will find a door to which this is the key. It is one of the entrances to an extensive underground passage which passes beneath the bed of the river, and comes out at
