Lord Derby replied in a low voice, in accordance with the request of his superior officer, who did not choose to show any signs of weakness before Diane. "The French attacked Fort Ste. Agathe unexpectedly. Nothing was in readiness to resist their assault,--neither walls nor men; and I am much afraid that they are by this time masters of the first line of fortifications of Calais." "They will still be a long way off from us," said Lord Wentworth, eagerly. "Yes," rejoined Lord Derby; "but they will meet with no obstacle after that until they reach the bridge of Nieullay; and the bridge of Nieullay is two miles from this place." "Have you sent reinforcements to our outposts, Derby?" "Yes, my Lord, pardon me, without your orders,--nay, in spite of your orders." "You have done well," said Lord Wentworth. "Bub the reinforcements will have arrived too late." "Who knows? Let us not be alarmed. You must go with me at once to Nieullay. We will make these rash rascals pay dear for their audacity; and if they already hold Ste. Agathe, why, we shall be free to drive them out of it." "God grant it!" said Lord Derby; "but they have begun the game manfully." "We will have our revenge!" replied Wentworth. "Who commands them, do you know?" "It is not known,--probably Monsieur de Guise, or Monsieur de Nevers, at least. The ensign who rode here at full speed to bring the almost incredible news of their sudden appearance told me only that he recognized at a distance, in the front rank, your former prisoner, you remember, Vicomte d'Exmès--" "Damnation!" cried the governor, clinching his fists. "Come, Derby, come quickly!" Madame de Castro, with her senses sharpened, as they are apt to be at important crises, had heard almost all of Lord Derby's report, although made in a low voice. When Lord Wentworth took leave of her, he said-- "You will excuse me, Madame; I must leave you, as business of importance--" "Go, my Lord," she interrupted, not without a tinge of malice in her tone; "go, and try to re-establish your supremacy, which is cruelly threatened. But remember, meanwhile, two things: first, that the greatest delusions are just the ones that are not doubtful; and in the second place, that you can always rely upon the word of a French gentleman. It is not yet the 1st of January, my Lord." Lord Wentworth, in a fury of rage, left the room without replying. CHAPTER XIV DURING THE BOMBARDMENT Lord Derby was quite right in his conjectures. This is what had happened:-- The troops of Monsieur de Nevers, having made a rapid junction during the night with those of the Duc de Guise, had arrived unexpectedly by forced marches before Fort Ste. Agathe. Three thousand arquebusiers, supported by twenty-five or thirty horsemen, had carried the fort in less than an hour.