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He might have contended that, his master being slain, it was no great matter what he did, for in the end the Condillacs must surely have their way with Mademoiselle de La Vauvraye. But he never paused to think of that just then. His sense of trust was strong; his duty to his master plain. He stepped back, and drew his sword. "Let me pass!" he roared.
That cry of "Shame!" did no more than increase the anger that was mastering Garnache. His mission in Grenoble was forgotten; mademoiselle above-stairs was forgotten; the need for caution and the fear of the Condillacs were forgotten; everything was thrust from his mind but the situation of the moment.
Garnache spent a sleepless night at Grenoble, on guard throughout the greater part of it since nothing short of that would appease the fears of Valerie. Yet it passed without any bellicose manifestation on the part of the Condillacs such as Valerie feared and such as Garnache was satisfied would not could not, indeed take place.
Meanwhile Garnache continued to play his part of gaoler to the entire satisfaction and increased confidence of the Condillacs, what time he waited patiently for the appointed night when it should be his friend Arsenio's turn to take the guard.
"He was in life a powerful noble," said Garnache thoughtfully. "It is but fitting that, being dead, honour and reverence should be shown his body." "Then let those who have themselves been honoured by the Condillacs honour this dead Condillac now. The Church is not of that number, monsieur.
But from what Valerie herself had told him he was inclined to think more favourably of Florimond and to suppress such doubts as these. Still he could incur no risks; is business was to serve Valerie and Valerie only; to procure at all costs her permanent liberation from the power of the Condillacs.
He bethought him of the old minstrel's gallery at the end of the hall in which the Condillacs were dining and whither the courier would be conducted. He knew the way to that gallery, for he had made a very close study of the chateau against the time when he might find himself in need of the knowledge.
Marius shrugged his shoulders; his face suggested that he was ill-humoured. "Madame the Queen-Regent has seen fit to interfere in our concerns. We Condillacs do not lightly brook interference." Florimond showed his teeth in a pleasant smile. "That is true, that is very true, Pardieu! But what warranted this action of Her Majesty's?" Marius felt that the time for deeds was come.
His mistake had lain in his eagerness to obtain a guard from the Seneschal. Had he begun by making sure of a conveyance, anticipating, as he should have done, this move on the part of the Condillacs a move which he did not even now suspect it is possible that he might have been spared much of the trouble that was to follow.
"But, monsieur," she cried, "you are not proposing that I should remain a night in Grenoble." "What alternative have we?" he asked, and his brows met, impatient at what he accounted no more than feminine whimsey. "It is not safe," she exclaimed, her fears increasing. "You do not know how powerful are the Condillacs." He strode to the fire, and the logs hissed under the pressure of his wet boot.
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