Simon lingered a minute or two, looking round the house, giving the growling dogs a wide berth, then went back with his message to the wood, and took the precaution of sending a man to watch the lanes on the other side. He did not, of course, for a moment suppose that there was any one there, except, most probably, Ange de la Marinière and his bride; but it would not do to let him once again escape the General. What his plans might be, Simon only half guessed; but he knew they were desperate, and he knew that the man who balked him would repent it. And besides all this, he had not yet received a sou for all the dirty work he had lately done. But in the bitter depths of his discontented mind, Simon began to suspect that he had made a mistake in committing himself, body and soul, to General Ratoneau. Monsieur Joseph took a small pistol from a cabinet, loaded it, then ran lightly upstairs and called Riette, who came flying to meet him. He took her in his arms and kissed her shaggy pate. "Your hair wants brushing, mademoiselle," he said. "You are a contrast to your beautiful cousin." "Oh, papa, isn't it glorious to think that Hélène has married Angelot? They do love each other so. She has been telling me that if only he were back safe from the Étang des Morts, she would be the very happiest woman in the world." "I hope she will be, and soon," said Monsieur Joseph. But he trembled as he spoke, for if Simon was right, Angelot and César might be even now in the hands of the police. "Listen, Riette," he said. "There are some men outside, police and officials--General Ratoneau is with them. Once again there are fancies in these people's heads about me and my friends. They want to search the house. There is no reason for it, and I will not have it done. I am going out now to speak to the General. Look at the clock. If I am not back in ten minutes, go out at the back with your cousin, take the path behind the stables, and make all the haste you can to La Marinière. It will be light, you cannot lose your way. Only keep in the shelter of the trees, that those people over in the wood may not see you." Riette gazed at him with dark large eyes which seemed to read something behind his words. "Why do you think you will not come back, papa? Because General Ratoneau is a wicked man?" "Because Imperial justice may carry me to Sonnay. But the Prefect is my friend," said Monsieur Joseph, gravely. "Go back, and do as I tell you. Remember, Angelot's wife is in your care. Take this pistol, and defend her if necessary." He left her without another word and ran downstairs. In the ground-floor rooms he found the servants waiting, the two men armed, Marie wildly excited, all talking at once, for they had heard from an upper window their master's conversation with Simon.