“Yes, I admit that, mon ami; but they were not intending to go on board then. My idea is, and I am persuaded I am right, that they were merely communicating with the corvette, planning an escape for Madame Coulancourt and her daughter; so my return with the order for the arrest of the whole party would have struck a fatal blow to their projects, and saved both the Vengeance and the brig.” “And what do you intend doing now?” demanded Vadier. “I have the false deeds quite ready, and the late duke’s signatures, &c., all complete.” “I am going now—at least in half an hour—to the château; Sergeant Perrin went there last night by my orders, to keep watch. I will make a proposal to Madame Coulancourt, which if she does not accept, I will enforce the order for their arrest, and send them to Paris. She must be found guilty of plotting with the enemies of France, and by-the-by, this affair of the Vengeance will, after all, implicate her most forcibly, as she permitted an English officer to reside in her mansion, under an assumed name, and passed off her own daughter as a Mademoiselle de Tourville. I think, Augustine, I have a good head for plotting. Once convicted of this charge, which she cannot possibly refute, her estate will be confiscated, and then I intend producing my deeds and the late duke’s revocal of his former will; with the interest I possess when I shall, no doubt, be put in possession of the property. Strange to say I could not get Fouché to give me an order to arrest that confounded Jean Plessis. ‘No,’ said the Minister of Police, ‘he is a protégé of Barras; let him alone.’” “Curse him!” fiercely exclaimed Vadier. “Then I will stick a knife in him. I hate that man; he was the chief witness against me when I was condemned in Paris to the galleys. I’ll have my revenge of him.” “Very proper,” said Monsieur Gramont, “but get well first; you look feverish, and exciting yourself is bad.” “Humph!” muttered Vadier. “I wish you would give me the five hundred francs for that rascal Dubois; he is growling like a bear—he wants to marry that girl Dedan, at the château, and she is getting frightened for fear of being found out.” “Confound the rascal! let him wait. I have not five hundred to spare, mon cher, just yet; and as to the girl, serve her right if she is found out. We require neither of them now.” “Then send off that sulky rascal Dubois; he handles me as if I was a bear.” “Ma foi, with that hairy face of yours you are not unlike one,” said Monsieur Gramont. “The time is past now, or else I would despatch the rascal to prison as a royalist, and have his head off. As it is, I will send him about his business this moment—the easiest way of paying the five hundred francs. Now I must leave you; keep up your spirits, you will soon be on your legs; the loss of an eye will not spoil your beauty, and your other optic will gain redoubled force. I shall be back in the evening.”