"Let him remain at the Hotel de France as long as he
chooses; we shall not go in search of him."
"No! we shall not go in search of him," echoed the other peasants,
approvingly.
The old rogue shook his head with affected commiseration.
"Monsieur le Duc will not put you to that trouble," he replied; "he will
be here in less than two hours."
"How do you know?"
"I know it through Monsieur Laugeron, who, when I mounted his horse,
said to me: 'Above all, old man, explain to my friend Lacheneur that the
duke has ordered horses to be in readiness to convey him to Sairmeuse at
eleven o'clock.'"
With a common movement, all the peasants who had watches consulted them.
"And what does he want here?" demanded the same young farmer.
"Pardon! he did not tell me," replied Father Chupin; "but one need not
be very cunning to guess. He comes to revisit his former estates, and
to take them from those who have purchased them, if possible. From you,
Rousselet, he will claim the meadows upon the Oiselle, which always
yield two crops; from you, Father Gauchais, the ground upon which
the Croix-Brulee stands; from you, Chanlouineau, the vineyards on the
Borderie----"
Chanlouineau was the impetuous young man who had interrupted Father
Chupin twice already.
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