Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 22, 2025
"Now, touching this Marquis de Bardelys, it is very plain that the Chevalier boasted when he said that they were as brothers he and the Marquis is it not? He grew ill at ease when you reminded him of the possibility of the Marquis's visit to Lavedan." And she laughed quaintly to herself. "Do you think that he so much as knows Bardelys?" she asked me suddenly.
The men looked uneasily at the Chevalier; the Chevalier looked uneasily at his men; mademoiselle, very pale, lowered her eyes and pressed her lips yet more tightly; the Vicomtesse uttered an oath of astonishment; whilst Lavedan, too dignified to manifest surprise, greeted me with a sober bow.
I was wounded in the shoulder and very exhausted, and I knocked at the gates of Lavedan to crave shelter.
"You mean the Cause," she cried. "But, believe me, you can do nothing. To sacrifice yourself cannot profit it. Infinitely better you can serve the Duke by waiting until the time is ripe for another blow. And how can you better preserve your life than by remaining at Lavedan until the persecutions are at an end?"
And so, while my madness endured, I quitted Lavedan, and telling my father that I was going to Auch, to his sister's house, I came to Toulouse and betrayed you to the Keeper of the Seals. "Scarce was the thing done than I beheld the horror of it, and I hated myself.
"Because they call me the Just, I must let justice take its course," he answered presently. "But," I objected, with a sudden hope, "the course of justice cannot lead to the headsman in the case of the Vicomte de Lavedan." "Why not?" And his solemn eyes met mine across the table. "Because he took no active part in the revolt.
I inquired, sitting bolt upright. "Past ten," said he, with stern disapproval. "And you have let me sleep?" I cried. "We do little else at Lavedan even when we are awake," he grumbled. "There was no reason why monsieur should rise." Then, holding out a paper, "Monsieur Stanislas de Marsac was here betimes this morning with Mademoiselle his sister. He left this letter for you, monsieur."
Infinitely more had I the air of some fugitive rebel, and it was more than probable that I should be kept in durance to be handed over to my friends the dragoons, if later they came to ride that way. I was separated from those who knew me, and as things now stood unless this were, indeed, Lavedan it might be days before they found me again.
His black eyes sparkled, and his moustaches bristled with excitement. Clearly he had news of import. I turned to the landlord. "Leave us, Monsieur l'Hote," said I shortly; and when he had departed, "What of the Lavedan family, Castelroux?" I inquired as calmly as I might. "The Chevalier de Saint-Eustache left Toulouse at six o'clock this morning for Lavedan."
And then it came to me that this was no demoiselle of Lavedan, no demoiselle at all in fact, for the noblesse of France owned no such faces. Candour and purity were not to be looked for in the high-bred countenances of our great families; they were sometimes found in the faces of the children of their retainers. Yes; I had it now.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking