"Very well! I comprehend!" he exclaimed. "I know now who that officer
was who entered the room in which I had deposited the ropes--and I know
what took him there."
He crumbled the letter between his hands and threw it in M. de
Courtornieu's face, saying:
"Here is your reward--coward!"
Overwhelmed by this _denouement_ the marquis sank into an arm-chair, and
Martial, still holding Jean Lacheneur by the arm, was leaving the room,
when his young wife, wild with despair, tried to detain him.
"You shall not go!" she exclaimed, intensely exasperated; "you shall
not! Where are you going? To rejoin the sister of the man, whom I now
recognize?"
Beside himself, Martial pushed his wife roughly aside.
"Wretch!" said he, "how dare you insult the noblest and purest of women?
Ah, well--yes--I am going to find Marie-Anne. Farewell!"
And he passed on.
CHAPTER XXXV
The ledge of rock upon which Baron d'Escorval and Corporal Bavois rested
in their descent from the tower was very narrow.
In the widest place it did not measure more than a yard and a half, and
its surface was uneven, cut by innumerable fissures and crevices, and
sloped suddenly at the edge.
Pages:
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485