'Ah!' said he; 'although whitened over there are hard blocks of granite behind, hard enough to split quickly such a cracked head as yours. Knock your own brains out against these stones, madame, and none will be better satisfied than your obedient servant.' The unfortunate woman set her teeth. The cat was rubbing its head against her skirt; she stooped and picked it up and held it by the fore-legs against her breast, with the body hanging down. The cat, not satisfied with a position which undoubtedly distressed it, miawed; but Madame Berthier paid no attention to its complaints. 'Indeed,' continued Berthier, 'I have heard--but my good friend will correct me if I am wrong--that more than one captive here has so terminated his confinement, and it was greatly to their credit, I think; it showed a spirit, deserving admiration. Desirous of saving the privy purse the expense of their keep, they freed the crown, by their own act, of all anxiety about them. Certainly it cost a trifle to whitewash over the splashes of blood, where the head had been battered against the wall, but a few sous would cover that.' The cat squalled, but Madame Berthier disregarded its cries. She laughed and glared at her husband, with her head bent forward, and her grey dishevelled hair falling over her breast and covering the cat. 'If you prefer it,' pursued Berthier, 'there is a strong stanchion in the window, quite capable of supporting your weight, and you could with the greatest facility extemporise a rope, surely out of a coverlet, torn up, or even a garter.' 'No,' shouted madame; 'no, not that way.' 'Then allow me to recommend a fragment of crockery. I have known a man hack through his windpipe with a sharp potsherd; and what man has done, woman may do.' 'No,' screamed the leaden woman; 'not so.' 'Then in the name of wonder, how?' 'Ah-ha!' she cried, advancing towards him, and throwing up the cat into the air and catching it, and swinging it above her head, and then bringing it back to its former position. 'Ah! have you never heard of pardons, of orders for release granted by the king?' 'I allow that I have; but I must assure you, dear Madame Plomb, that there is not the remotest chance of your obtaining one.' 'Not if Gabrielle pleads on her knees with the queen? Gabrielle loves me; she will do that, she has come to Paris on purpose to do that. She has got friends who will help her--we shall see! The queen is good, Gabrielle is earnest. We shall see.' For a moment the Intendant looked disconcerted. His cheeks, lately puckered with laughter, hung down. He turned his red eyes on Gabrielle. 'Are you really going to Versailles on such a fool's errand?' he asked. The girl, though much grieved at the poor deranged lady having disclosed her secret to the man of all others from whom it should have been preserved, when thus appealed to answered resolutely, 'By God's help, I shall!' 'In the devil's name, you shall not,' said Berthier, abruptly.