Maurice seized it and read:
"Yesterday, Lacheneur, the leader of the revolt in Montaignac, was
executed. The miserable mischief-maker exhibited upon the scaffold the
audacity for which he has always been famous."
"My father has been put to death!" cried Marie-Anne, "and I--his
daughter--was not there to receive his last farewell!"
She rose, and in an imperious voice:
"I will go no farther," she said; "we must turn back now without losing
an instant. I wish to return to France."
To return to France was to expose themselves to frightful peril. What
good would it do? Was not the misfortune irreparable?
So Corporal Bavois suggested, very timidly. The old soldier trembled at
the thought that they might suspect him of being afraid.
But Maurice would not listen.
He shuddered. It seemed to him that Baron d'Escorval must have been
discovered and arrested at the same time that Lacheneur was captured.
"Yes, let us start at once on our return!" he exclaimed.
They immediately procured a carriage to convey them to the frontier.
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