"True, monsieur, you may well boast of it as a noble deed, but not until the body has been consigned to the earth; for in these small places a great noise is often made over a small matter, and the spectacle of a gentleman carried across his horse in this way will make these bourgeois of La Châtre open their eyes. You have enemies, monsieur, and at the present moment Monseigneur de Condé is a very devout Catholic. If he should learn that this Spaniard was covered with strings of beads and blessed relics, that he had confessed to Monsieur Poulain, whose housekeeper is lauding him to the skies in the village of Briantes as a perfect Christian----" "Well, well, what are you coming at with your old woman's gossip, my dear Adamas?" said the marquis, impatiently. Guillaume interposed. "Cousin," he said, "Adamas is right. The laws against the duello are respected by nobody; but evil-minded persons can invoke them at any moment. This D'Alvimar had some powerful friends in Paris; and unfriendly reports may, at one time or another, cause this to be used against you and me, especially against you, who are not esteemed a very ardent Catholic. Take my advice therefore, and let us not go into the town but decide upon some other means of ridding ourselves of this dead man. You are sure of your people and I can answer for mine. Let us have no confidants among the churchmen and bourgeois of a small town, all of whom, in this province, are very bitter against men who have opposed the League and served under the late king." "There is much truth in what you say," replied Bois-Doré; "but it is most distasteful to me to tie a stone around a dead man's neck and toss him into the river like a dog." "Why, monsieur," said Adamas, "that man was worth less than any dog!" "That is true, my friend; I thought so myself an hour ago; but I have no hatred for a corpse." "Very good, monsieur," said Adamas, "I have an idea which will make everything all right; if we retrace our steps, we shall find within a hundred yards, near the Chambon meadow, the gardener's cottage." "What gardener? Marie la Caille-Bottée?" "She is very devoted to monsieur, and they say that she was not always pock-marked." "Tush, tush! Adamas, this is no time for jesting!" "I am not jesting, monsieur, and I say that that old woman will keep our secret faithfully." "And you propose to disturb her peace of mind by carrying a dead man to her? She will die of fright!" "No, monsieur, for she is not alone in her little isolated cottage. I will take my oath that we shall find a good Carmelite there, who will give the Spanish gentleman Christian burial in a grave somewhere on the gardener's premises." "You are too much of a Huguenot, Adamas," said Monsieur d'Ars. "The Carmelites are not such dissolute fellows as you imply."