After the death of Emilie, he commanded Justine, under the direst threats, to say that her mistress, overwhelmed with grief at the death of her child, had finally succumbed to the desperate illness which ensued. Nothing seemed more plausible than this account, hence it was generally accepted. The Count de Montreuil remained concealed in his house until his wound was thoroughly healed. With every conceivable threat and promise, he tried to induce Justine to reveal the secret of the child’s hiding-place, but all his efforts were unavailing. It now becomes necessary to explain how the count surprised the interview between Emilie and the commander. Learning the supposed death of his child, while in the lazaretto or pest-house near Marseilles, he was plunged in desperate grief. He believed that his wife was no less inconsolable, and, notwithstanding the penalty of death incurred by deserters from the lazaretto, before the expiration of the established quarantine, he swam that night even from the island Ratonneau, where the sanitary buildings were situated. Reaching the coast, where a trusty servant awaited him with clothing, he assumed another name, and galloped in hot haste on the road to Lyons. Leaving his horses about two leagues from his house, he accomplished the rest of the journey on foot. Passing through the little gate which the commander had left open, he entered the park. Several days before, by way of precaution, Emilie had dismissed most of her servants, under various pretexts, retaining two women only of whom she felt sure. Her husband, finding the house almost deserted, entered unperceived, and stood at the door of Emilie’s chamber, while she believed that he would remain ten days longer in the lazaretto. Hearing the conversation which took place between his wife and Pierre des Anbiez, the Count de Montreuil could have no further doubt of her infidelity. When he had entirely recovered from his wounds, he abandoned his house, situated in the country near Lyons, for ever; and feeling sure of Justine’s silence, as the woman had no interest in betraying his secret, he left France, taking with him a considerable sum in gold. When his disappearance from the lazaretto was discovered, it was believed and currently reported that the Count de Montreuil, frenzied by grief over the loss of his child, had thrown himself into the sea. While this rumour was accepted in France, the commander believed that his victim had died from his wounds. Thus it was that the Count de Montreuil was ignorant of the name of Emilie’s seducer, and the only clew he had was the commander’s Maltese cross, which had fallen on the floor of the chamber. This cross bore the initials L. P. on its ring, which letters proved that its owner belonged to the Provençal nation. This explains the intense hatred which Pog cherished against the chevaliers of Malta.