"Very plain, and well put, my lord; but I must carry out the commands of the king. When we shall have arrived at your house, I shall have the honor to transmit to you an autograph letter of His Majesty King William, which will leave you in no doubt as to the purpose and authority of the mission with which I am intrusted. Come, my lord, resign yourself; it is the fortune of war. Beside, if you hesitate, I can count upon a powerful ally."
"And that is----"
"Informed by me of the fate which menaces you, you proceed under the touch of my dagger."
"Always his eternal dagger! he is insufferable with his dagger," thought Croustillac. "He has but one word on his tongue."
"The d.u.c.h.ess," continued Rutler, "would far rather see you a prisoner than killed; it is well known how she loves you, how devoted she is to you. She would give her life for you. She will aid, then, I am sure, in making you face your position wisely. Meanwhile, my lord, choose; either summon some of your people, if they can hear you, or show me to your house yourself, for your departure must be hastened."
It must be said to Croustillac"s credit, that, learning that Blue Beard was the wife of an invisible lord whom she loved pa.s.sionately, and that he had been taken for this grand lord, he generously resolved to be of some use to this young wife by prolonging as far as possible the mistaken ident.i.ty of which he was the victim, and to allow himself to be carried off in place of the unknown duke. Happy at the thought that Angela would be under a great obligation, the Gascon resigned himself courageously to submit to all the consequences of the position which he had accepted, only he did not know in what manner he could leave Devil"s Cliff without the discovery of his stratagem.
"My lord, I am at your service; it is absolutely imperative that we depart at once," said the colonel impatiently.
"It is I who am at your service," replied the chevalier, who viewed with some disquiet the approach of the critical moment of this interview.
A brilliant idea struck Croustillac; he saw a means of escaping from this danger and of saving the mysterious husband of Blue Beard. "Listen, sir," said the adventurer, a.s.suming an impressive manner. "I give you my word as a gentleman that I will follow you willingly wherever you lead me, but I desire that my wife, the d.u.c.h.ess, shall not be informed of my arrest until I have gone."
"How, my lord, you are willing to thus abandon your wife without telling her of your sad situation?"
"Yes, because of reasons known to me alone, and then I would spare myself farewells, which must always be distressing."
"My orders concern you alone, my lord," said the colonel; "you are free to act as seems best to yourself, as far as the d.u.c.h.ess is concerned.
Nothing could be easier, it seems to me, than to do what you propose. If your wife is astonished at your departure, you can plead the imperative necessity of a journey of some days" duration to St. Pierre. As to my presence here, you can easily explain that. We will go, and your boat will take us to the Barbadoes."
"Doubtless, doubtless," said the embarra.s.sed Gascon, for he saw a number of dangers in the proposition which the colonel made. "Doubtless my departure might be easily explained so, but to give my orders to the negroes, to cause a commotion in the house, would attract my wife"s attention. She is extremely timid and is alarmed at everything. Your presence here would arouse her suspicions, and they would necessarily lead up to the painful scene which I would avoid at all cost."
"But, then, my lord, what shall we do?"
"There is a sure way, sir; however dangerous may have been the road by which you have arrived, let us follow it; we will leave the island by the same method by which you reached it. Once at the Barbadoes I will inform my wife of my abduction--the cruel abduction which separates me forever from her; and you will swear to me that she shall not be disturbed after my departure."
"Unfortunately, my lord, what you propose is impossible."
"How is that?"
"I came by way of the pearl diver"s cavern, my lord."
"Well, can we not leave by the pearl diver"s cavern?"
"Is it possible that you are ignorant, my lord, of the secret communication which exists between this cavern and the abyss which surrounds your park?"
"I am entirely ignorant as to it, but if this communication exists, can we not use it to leave by?"
"That is impossible, my lord; no one can enter the cavern except by allowing the waves to precipitate him to the bottom of a subterranean lake, after having descended a cataract."
"And in order to get out of this cavern?"
"You must ascend a waterfall twenty feet in height."
"That is too much for me. So, the vessel that brought you to the outside of this cavern----"
"Has already left for the Barbadoes, my lord. It could approach this island in spite of the French cruisers only because this coast is inaccessible."
"I thought that this road was impenetrable," said the chevalier, overcome.
"If you will believe me, my lord, you will limit yourself to announcing to madame the d.u.c.h.ess that you will be absent for several days only. I have faith in your word as a gentleman that you will make no attempt to escape from my hands."
"I have given you my word, sir."
"I believe you, my lord, and my dagger answers to me for its fulfillment."
"I should have been very much astonished if the dagger had not reappeared," thought Croustillac. "He trusts implicitly in my word; that does not prevent his trusting as much to his dagger. Zounds! what distrust! But that is not what concerns me. What shall I do? The d.u.c.h.ess is not prepared; the slaves will not obey me if I give them orders. It is no use; behold me at the end of my falsehoods."
Croustillac had forced himself to become resigned to his a.s.sumption. He regretted sincerely that he was not to be permitted to devote himself more efficaciously to the service of Blue Beard; for he did not doubt that his ruse would be discovered the moment he put foot in the house.
He had shortly another apprehension. The Caribbean, seeing Croustillac return accompanied by a stranger armed to the teeth, would attack the colonel. Now, the latter had a.s.sured the adventurer that at the first attack he would be compelled to kill him without mercy.
The chevalier began to find his role less diverting and to curse the stupid curiosity, the imprudent heedlessness which had thrown him into a position as complicated as it was dangerous.
CHAPTER XX.
THE DEPARTURE.
The spirit of Croustillac was too mercurial and too adventurous to remain long under the weight of fear or sadness. He reasoned as follows: To-day, as heretofore, I have little or nothing to lose; if I decide to go out from this house, I continue to pa.s.s for the duke, and I am treated like a prince until some one discovers the imposition; then I shall become big John as heretofore, and I shall have rendered a great service to this pretty little Blue Beard, who has mocked at me, but who enchants me, for she interests me more than I wish, more than she merits perhaps, for, in spite of her love for this invisible husband, she appears to me madly tender with the buccaneer and that other brute, the cannibal. Well, what does it matter if it is my caprice to devote myself to this little woman? I am surely my own master; yes! but if, on the other hand, I do not leave this place? Suppose the Caribbean mixes himself in the affair, this would spoil all; it is clear that I shall be killed like a dog by this thick-headed Belgian. How, then, can I escape such a catastrophe? Say at once to the man with the dagger that I am not the duke? This might save me, perhaps, but no! this would be cowardice, and useless cowardice; for, to prevent my alarming the house, this beer-drinker would dispatch me at once. Yes, yes, in spite of my word as a gentleman not to seek to escape, he presses near me. Zounds! this man with his dagger is absurd! Bah! his dagger! he can only kill me once, after all. Come, then, courage! courage! Croustillac! and above all do not deliberate--this brings you sorrow; you never commit greater stupidities or more tremendous mistakes than when you deliberate.
Commend yourself to your lucky star, shut your eyes, as usual, and go ahead.
Rea.s.sured by this excellent logic, the chevalier said aloud, "Well, sir, as we must absolutely pa.s.s the house in order to get out of this, let us go on."
"Sir," said the colonel, after a moment"s reflection, "you have given me your word as a gentleman not to escape."
"Yes, sir."
"But your people will wish to free you?"
"My life is in your hands, sir; you have my word; I can do no more."
"That is true, my lord; but then, in your interest, warn your slaves that the slightest act against me, on their part, will cost your life, for I have sworn, also, that I will carry you away, dead or living."
"It will not be my fault, sir, if you do not keep your word; come on."
And the chevalier and the colonel advanced toward the house.
Rutler held the arm of Croustillac under his left arm, and had his hand constantly on his dagger; not that he doubted the word of his prisoner, but the slaves at Devil"s Cliff might wish to rescue their master.
Croustillac and Rutler were not more than a few steps from the house when from an obscure path a woman advanced dressed in white. The colonel stopped, pressed firmly the arm of his prisoner, and said aloud, "Who is this? My lord, warn this woman not to cry out."
"It is Blue Beard! I am lost; she will scream like a peac.o.c.k, and all will be discovered," thought Croustillac. To his great astonishment the woman paused and did not speak. The Gascon said, "Who is it, then?"