They also feared that the secret of their presence would be exposed at any moment. The duchess conducted her sons to the chamber where the arms of the duke were kept, and each of the brothers chose what he needed. They took, at the same time, complete outfits of clothing and armor, and made preparations to depart the following night. Mainfroi, the son of the esquire of the duke, on whose devotion the family could fully rely, was charged with all the arrangements. Maugis, pleased with the ardor with which Mainfroi acquitted himself of these duties, proposed to him to become his own esquire, which Mainfroi accepted with joy. He undertook also to obtain three other esquires and have them ready for the moment of departure, praying that the brothers would confide all to him completely. The next day Mainfroi, in the name of the duke, made a levy of one hundred men and ordered them to report at Sedan within three days. Each brother then received a large sum of money from the treasury of the duke, their father. In the dead of night the four brothers took tearful leave of their sorrowing mother, mounted their horses, and silently departed out into the world. Once outside they met Mainfroi and the three esquires, and directing their course to Sedan, were joined by the one hundred men-at-arms arranged for them. Thinking it prudent to go southward, they set out and had proceeded as far as the village of Haraucourt, in the valley of the Emmenee, a romantic place where the hills towered above on either side and shut in the nestling village. They suddenly encountered their father returning to the château, followed by three hundred men. The duke rode up to them and said in low tones that he would not fight them, but that he must do something to deceive the emperor, and that he designed to allow them the three hundred men then with him as an addition to their force, De Baudelot, the chief of the troops, being in the secret. This preparatory interview having terminated, the duke feigned to become very angry at his sons. He swore that he would exterminate them, and ordered his soldiers to charge upon them. Commandant de Baudelot, agreeable to the understanding between them, roared out: “Let not a man move, or by Saint Gris I will cut him down to the saddle!” The duke gazed frowningly upon the bronzed faces of his men, but not one of them made motion to obey him—and then turning, apparently furious, upon the immovable De Baudelot, he berated him roundly and thereupon left, followed only by a few servitors, promising the rebellious De Baudelot and his sons the most dire vengeance. This stratagem was so well carried out that it deceived everybody, and the duke, to make it more sure, when he returned to his palace, spread the story, how his wayward sons, having secured entrance to the château, hoping to gain his pity, had in a cowardly manner taken his treasure and corrupted his soldiers.