"Aristocrat!" he cried, "don't stir, or I'll demolish you in a wink, like the Bastille.""Monsieur Beau-Pied," said Mademoiselle de Verneuil, in a persuasive voice, "you will be answerable to me for this prisoner.Do as you like with him now, but you must return him to me safe and sound at Fougeres.""Enough, madame!"
"Is the road to Fougeres clear?"
"Yes, it's safe enough--unless the Chouans come to life."Mademoiselle de Verneuil picked up the count's gun gaily, and smiled satirically as she said to her prisoner, "Adieu, monsieur le comte, au revoir!"Then she darted down the path, having replaced the broad hat upon her head.
"I have learned too late," said the count, "not to joke about the virtue of a woman who has none.""Aristocrat!" cried Beau-Pied, sternly, "if you don't want me to send you to your /ci-devant/ paradise, you will not say a word against that beautiful lady."Mademoiselle de Verneuil returned to Fougeres by the paths which connect the rocks of Saint-Sulpice with the Nid-aux-Crocs.When she reached the latter height and had threaded the winding way cut in its rough granite, she stopped to admire the pretty valley of the Nancon, lately so turbulent and now so tranquil.Seen from that point, the vale was like a street of verdure.Mademoiselle de Verneuil re-entered the town by the Porte Saint-Leonard.The inhabitants, still uneasy about the fighting, which, judging by the distant firing, was still going on, were waiting the return of the National Guard, to judge of their losses.Seeing the girl in her strange costume, her hair dishevelled, a gun in her hand, her shawl and gown whitened against the walls, soiled with mud and wet with dew, the curiosity of the people was keenly excited,--all the more because the power, beauty, and singularity of this young Parisian had been the subject of much discussion.
Francine, full of dreadful fears, had waited for her mistress throughout the night, and when she saw her she began to speak; but Marie, with a kindly gesture, silenced her.
"I am not dead, my child," she said."Ah!" she added, after a pause, "I wanted emotions when I left Paris, and I have had them!"Francine asked if she should get her some food, observing that she must be in great need of it.
"No, no; a bath, a bath!" cried Mademoiselle de Verneuil."I must dress at once."Francine was not a little surprised when her mistress required her to unpack the most elegant of the dresses she had brought with her.
Having bathed and breakfasted, Marie made her toilet with all the minute care which a woman gives to that important act when she expects to meet the eyes of her lover in a ball-room.Francine could not explain to herself the mocking gaiety of her mistress.It was not the joy of love,--a woman never mistakes that; it was rather an expression of concentrated maliciousness, which to Francine's mind boded evil.
Marie herself drew the curtains of the window from which the glorious panorama could be seen, then she moved the sofa to the chimney corner, turning it so that the light would fall becomingly on her face; then she told Francine to fetch flowers, that the room might have a festive air; and when they came she herself directed their arrangement in a picturesque manner.Giving a last glance of satisfaction at these various preparations she sent Francine to the commandant with a request that he would bring her prisoner to her; then she lay down luxuriously on a sofa, partly to rest, and partly to throw herself into an attitude of graceful weakness, the power of which is irresistible in certain women.A soft languor, the seductive pose of her feet just seen below the drapery of her gown, the plastic ease of her body, the curving of the throat,--all, even the droop of her slender fingers as they hung from the pillow like the buds of a bunch of jasmine, combined with her eyes to produce seduction.She burned certain perfumes to fill the air with those subtle emanations which affect men's fibres powerfully, and often prepare the way for conquests which women seek to make without seeming to desire them.
Presently the heavy step of the old soldier resounded in the adjoining room.
"Well, commandant, where is my captive?" she said.
"I have just ordered a picket of twelve men to shoot him, being taken with arms in his hand.""Why have you disposed of my prisoner?" she asked."Listen to me, commandant; surely, if I can trust your face, the death of a man /after/ a fight is no particular satisfaction to you.Well, then, give my Chouan a reprieve, for which I will be responsible, and let me see him.I assure you that aristocrat has become essential to me, and he can be made to further the success of our plans.Besides, to shoot a mere amateur in Chouannerie would be as absurd as to fire on a balloon when a pinprick would disinflate it.For heaven's sake leave cruelty to the aristocracy.Republicans ought to be generous.Wouldn't you and yours have forgiven the victims of Quiberon? Come, send your twelve men to patrol the town, and dine with me and bring the prisoner.There is only an hour of daylight left, and don't you see," she added smiling, "that if you are too late, my toilet will have lost its effect?""But, mademoiselle," said the commandant, amazed.
"Well, what? But I know what you mean.Don't be anxious; the count shall not escape.Sooner or later that big butterfly will burn himself in your fire."The commandant shrugged his shoulders slightly, with the air of a man who is forced to obey, whether he will or no, the commands of a pretty woman; and he returned in about half an hour, followed by the Comte de Bauvan.
