France -- History -- Regency, 1715-1723 -- Fiction; Orléans, Philippe, duc d', 1674-1723 -- Fiction
"Bah!" said Gaston, "at this moment I could carry the Bastille itself."
They went on in silence to a lane in the Faubourg St. Antoine; the
streets were deserted.
"Now, my dear chevalier," said La Jonquiere, "do me the favor to follow
me to the corner of the Faubourg."
"I would follow you to--"
"Not so far, if you please; for safety's sake we will each go our own
way."
"What carriage is that?"
"Mine."
"How! yours?"----"Yes."
"Peste! my dear captain: four horses! you travel like a prince!"
"Three horses; one is for you."
"How! you consent?"
"Pardieu! that is not all."
"What?"
"You have no money?"
"It was taken away."
"Here are fifty louis."
"But, captain--"
"Come, it is Spanish money; take it."
Gaston took the purse, while a postilion unharnessed a horse and led it
to him.
"Now," said Dubois, "where are you going?"
"To Bretagne, to rejoin my companions."
"You are mad, my dear fellow; they are all condemned and may be executed
in two or three days."
"You are right," said Gaston.
"Go to Flanders," said La Jonquiere, "it is a pleasant country; in
fifteen or eighteen hours you can reach the frontier."
"Yes," said Gaston gloomily; "thank you, I know where I shall go."
"Well, good luck to you," said Dubois, getting into his carriage.
"The same to you," said Gaston.
They grasped each other's hands, and then each went his own way.
CHAPTER XXXII.
SHOWING THAT WE MUST NOT ALWAYS JUDGE OTHERS BY OURSELVES, ABOVE ALL IF
WE ARE CALLED DUBOIS.
The regent, as usual, passed the evening with Helene. He had not missed
for four or five days, and the hours he passed with her were his happy
hours, but this time he found her very much shaken by her visit to her
lover in the Bastille.
"Come," said the regent, "take courage, Helene; to-morrow you shall be
his wife."
"To-morrow is distant," replied she.
"Helene, believe in my word, which has never failed you. I tell you that
to-morrow shall dawn happily for you and for him."
Helene sighed deeply.
A servant entered and spoke to the regent.
"What is it?" asked Helene, who was alarmed at the slightest thing.
"Nothing, my child," said the duke; "it is only my secretary, who wishes
to see me on some pressing business."
"Shall I leave you?"
"Yes; do me that favor for an instant."
Helene withdrew into her room.
At the same time the door opened and Dubois entered, out of breath.
"Where do you come from in such a state?"
"Parbleu! from the Bastille."
"And our prisoner?"
"Well."
"Is everything arranged for the marriage."
"Yes, everything but the hour, which you did not name."
"Let us say eight in the morning."
"At eight in the morning," said Dubois, calculating.
"Yes, what are you calculating?"
"I am thinking where he will be."
"Who?"
"The prisoner."
"What! the prisoner!"
"Yes; at eight o'clock he will be forty leagues from Paris!"
"From Paris!"
"Yes; if he continues to go at the pace at which I saw him set out."
"What do you mean?"
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