Strange as it may seem, the news of the scene at the chateau reached
Father Poignot's farm-house that same evening.
It had not been three hours since Maurice, Jean Lacheneur and Bavois
left the house, promising to re-cross the frontier that same night.
Abbe Midon had decided to say nothing to M. d'Escorval of his son's
return, and to conceal Marie-Anne's presence in the house. The baron's
condition was so critical that the merest trifle might turn the scale.
About ten o'clock the baron fell asleep, and the abbe and Mme.
d'Escorval went downstairs to talk with Marie-Anne. As they were sitting
there Poignot's eldest son entered in a state of great excitement.
After supper he had gone with some of his acquaintances to admire
the splendors of the fete, and he now came rushing back to relate the
strange events of the evening to his father's guests.
"It is inconceivable!" murmured the abbe.
He knew but too well, and the others comprehended it likewise, that
these strange events rendered their situation more perilous than ever.
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