"
"Then you think if the baron escapes they will give you back your
letter?"
"Most assuredly."
"Deluded man! As soon as the baron is safe, they will demand the life of
another prisoner, with the same menaces."
"By no means."
"You will see."
"I shall see nothing of the kind, for a very simple reason. I have the
letter now in my pocket. The abbe gave it to me in exchange for my word
of honor."
M. de Courtornieu's exclamation proved that he considered the abbe an
egregious fool.
"What!" he exclaimed. "You hold the proof, and--But this is madness!
Burn this accursed letter by the flames of this lantern, and let the
baron go where his slumbers will be undisturbed."
Martial's silence betrayed something like stupor.
"What! you would do this--you?" he demanded, at last.
"Certainly--and without the slightest hesitation."
"Ah, well! I cannot say that I congratulate you."
The sneer was so apparent that M. de Courtornieu was sorely tempted
to make an angry response. But he was not a man to yield to his first
impulse--this former chamberlain under the Emperor, now become a _grand
prevot_ under the Restoration.
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