"What do you say, little one?" "I say, madame, that I think it is quite time for me to go and set my prisoner free; may I not spare him the frightful spectacle of his companion led forth to his death? Ah! madame, as you consent to pardon him, pray, let it be a full and complete pardon!" "I' faith, yes! you are quite right, little one; but, in very truth I had forgotten my promise amid all this serious business, and you have done well to remind me of it." "Then--" cried Claire, beaming with joy. "Do what you choose." "One more signature, then, madame," said Claire, with a smile which would have melted the hardest heart, a smile which no painter's brush could reproduce, because it belongs only to the woman who loves, that is to say, to life in its divinest essence. She placed a paper upon Madame la Princesse's table, and held it while she wrote:-- "The governor of Château-Trompette is ordered to allow Madame la Vicomtesse de Cambes access to Monsieur le Baron de Canolles, to whom we restore his liberty without reservation or condition." "Is that right?" the princess asked. "Oh! yes, madame!" "And I must sign it?" "Most assuredly." "Ah! little one," said Madame de Condé, with her most gracious smile, "I seem compelled to do whatever you want." And she wrote her name. Claire pounced upon the paper like an eagle upon its prey. She hardly took time to thank her Highness, and rushed from the room pressing the paper against her heart. On the stairway she met Monsieur de La Rochefoucauld, who was always followed wherever he went by a number of officers and admiring citizens. Claire greeted him with a happy little smile. Monsieur de La Rochefoucauld, surprised beyond measure, stopped for an instant upon the landing, and followed her with his eyes to the bottom of the stairs before entering Madame de Condé's apartment. "All is ready, madame," he said, when he was in her Highness's presence. "Where?" "Over yonder." The princess seemed to be trying to make out his meaning. "On the Esplanade," said the duke. "Ah yes! very good," rejoined the princess, affecting great calmness of manner, for she felt that he was looking at her, and so, notwithstanding her woman's nature which inclined her to shudder, she listened to the voice of her dignity as leader of a great party, which bade her show no sign of weakness. "If everything is ready, let the affair proceed." The duke hesitated. "Do you think it advisable that I should be present?" inquired the princess, with a tremor in her voice which she could not entirely repress, notwithstanding her self-control. "Why, that is as you please, madame," replied the duke, who was at that moment engaged in one of his physiological studies. "We will see, duke, we will see; you know that I have pardoned one of the condemned men." "Yes, madame." "And what do you say to that step?" "I say that whatever your Highness does is well done."