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"How do I know?" she asked fretfully. "But Monsieur Valmond seems to me like her, just the same." "Monsieur Valmond is a great man," said Parpon slowly. "You know!" she cried; "you know! Oh, tell me, what is he? Who is he? Where does he come from? Why is he here? How long will he stay? Tell me, how long will he stay?" She caught flutteringly at Parpon's shoulder.
The pathos of the chant almost made his listener shrink, so immediate and searching was it. When the lament ceased, there was a long silence, broken by Valmond. "He was your brother, Parpon how? Tell me about it." The dwarf's eyes looked into the distance. "It was in the far-off country," he said, "in the hills where the Little Good Folk come. My mother married an outlaw.
In this inspiring air it was impossible to feel an accent of disaster or to hear the stealthy footfall of ruin. The three journeyed down into the valley, then up onto the plateau, where they were challenged, allowed to pass, and came to where Valmond sat upon his horse. At sight of them, with a suspicion of the truth, he ordered Lagroin to march the men down the long plateau.
He remembered now the sickly, pungent air that floated past, and how Valmond, weak from the loss of blood in the fight at the smithy, shuddered, and drew his cloak about him. A few days would end it, for good or ill. Madame Chalice heard the news with consternation, and pity would have sent her to Valmond's bedside, but that she found Elise was his faithful nurse and servitor.
There were others to whom this growing reality was painful. The young Seigneur was serious enough about it, and more than once, irritated and perturbed, he sought Madame Chalice; but she gave him no encouragement, remarking coldly that Monsieur Valmond probably knew very well what he was doing, and was weighing all consequences.
But again she laughed, as at an absurdity. During the next few days Valmond was everywhere kind, liberal, quaint, tireless, at times melancholy; "in the distant perspective of the stage," as Monsieur De la Riviere remarked mockingly. But a passing member of the legislature met and was conquered by Valmond, and carried on to neighbouring parishes the wondrous tale.
I am to see him this afternoon he returns to the Louis Quinze to-day. The Cure and I " She laid her hand on his arm, interrupting him. "Will you take me this evening to Monsieur Valmond, dear friend?" she asked. She saw now how useless it was to attempt anything through these admirers of Valmond; she must do it herself. He must be firmly and finally warned and dissuaded.
Suddenly the giant's knee touched the red-hot steel that Madelinette had dropped, and with a snarl he flung Valmond back against the anvil, his head striking the iron with a sickening thud. Then, seizing the steel, he raised it to plunge the still glowing point into Valmond's eyes. Centuries of doom seemed crowded into that instant of time.
The close association of Parpon and Valmond that was droll; yet, too, it had a sort of fitness, she knew scarcely why. However, Monsieur was not a fool, in the vulgar sense, for he had made a friend of a little creature who could be a wasp or a humming-bird, as he pleased.
Ah,'tis a sad sight to see her now poor Marguerite Valmond!" "Ha!" cried Henri suddenly, pointing a grimy finger at Cazeau "Why did you jump? Did something hurt you?" Cazeau had indeed "jumped," as Henri put it, that is, he had sprung up from his chair suddenly and as suddenly sat down again with an air of impatience and discomfort.
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