The thought that his memory would be tarnished with charges of cowardice and treason drove him nearly mad.
He actually longed for death, since it would give him an opportunity to retrieve his honor.
"They shall see, then," he cried, wrathfully, "if I turn pale and tremble before the soldiers."
He was in this state of mind when the door opened to admit the Marquis de Courtornieu, who, after seeing Mlle. Lacheneur leave the prison, came to Chanlouineau to ascertain the result of her visit.
"Well, my good fellow--" began the marquis, in his most condescending manner.
"Leave!" cried Chanlouineau, in a fury of pa.s.sion. "Leave, or----"
Without waiting to hear the end of the sentence the marquis made his escape, greatly surprised and not a little dismayed by this sudden change.
"What a dangerous and blood-thirsty rascal!" he remarked to the guard.
"It would, perhaps, be advisable to put him in a strait-jacket!"
Ah! there was no necessity for that. The heroic peasant had thrown himself upon his straw pallet, oppressed with feverish anxiety.
Would Marie-Anne know how to make the best use of the weapon which he had placed in her hands?
If he hoped so, it was because she would have as her counsellor and guide a man in whose judgment he had the most implicit confidence--Abbe Midon.
"Martial will be afraid of the letter," he said to himself, again and again; "certainly he will be afraid."
In this Chanlouineau was entirely mistaken. His discernment and intelligence were certainly above his station, but he was not sufficiently acute to read a character like that of the young Marquis de Sairmeuse.
The doc.u.ment which he had written in a moment of _abandon_ and blindness, was almost without influence in determining his course.
He pretended to be greatly alarmed, in order to frighten his father; but in reality he considered the threat puerile.
Marie-Anne would have obtained the same a.s.sistance from him if she had not possessed this letter.
Other influences had decided him: the difficulties and dangers of the undertaking, the risks to be incurred, the prejudices to be braved.
To save the life of Baron d"Escorval--an enemy--to wrest him from the execution on the very steps of the scaffold, as it were, seemed to him a delightful enterprise. And to a.s.sure the happiness of the woman he adored by saving the life of an enemy, even after his suit had been refused, seemed a chivalrous act worthy of him.
Besides, what an opportunity it afforded for the exercise of his _sang-froid_, his diplomatic talent, and the _finesse_ upon which he prided himself!
It was necessary to make his father his dupe. That was an easy task.
It was necessary to impose upon the credulity of the Marquis de Courtornieu. This was a difficult task, yet he succeeded.
But poor Chanlouineau could not conceive of such contradictions, and he was consumed with anxiety.
Willingly would he have consented to be put to the torture before receiving his death-blow, if he might have been allowed to follow Marie-Anne in her undertakings.
What was she doing? How could he ascertain?
A dozen times during the evening he called his guards, under every possible pretext, and tried to compel them to talk with him. He knew very well that these men could be no better informed on the subject than he was himself, that he could place no confidence in their reports--but that made no difference.
The drums beat for the evening roll-call, then for the extinguishment of lights--after that, silence.
Standing at the window of his cell, Chanlouineau concentrated all his faculties in a superhuman effort of attention.
It seemed to him if the baron regained his liberty, he would be warned of it by some sign. Those whom he had saved owed him, he thought, this slight token of grat.i.tude.
A little after two o"clock he heard sounds that made him tremble. There was a great bustle in the corridors; guards running to and fro, and calling each other, a rattling of keys, and the opening and shutting of doors.
The pa.s.sage was suddenly illuminated; he looked out, and by the uncertain light of the lanterns, he thought he saw Lacheneur, as pale as a ghost, pa.s.s the cell, led by some soldiers.
Lacheneur! Could this be possible? He doubted his own eyesight. He thought it must be a vision born of the fever burning in his brain.
Later, he heard a despairing cry. But was it surprising that one should hear such a sound in a prison, where twenty men condemned to death were suffering the agony of that terrible night which precedes the day of execution.
At last, the gray light of early dawn came creeping in through the prison-bars. Chanlouineau was in despair.
"The letter was useless!" he murmured.
Poor generous peasant! His heart would have leaped for joy could he have cast a glance on the courtyard of the citadel.
More than an hour had pa.s.sed after the sounding of the _reveille_, when two countrywomen, who were carrying their b.u.t.ter and eggs to market, presented themselves at the gate of the fortress.
They declared that while pa.s.sing through the fields at the base of the precipitous cliff upon which the citadel was built, they had discovered a rope dangling from the side of the rock. A rope! Then one of the condemned prisoners must have escaped. The guards hastened to Baron d"Escorval"s room--it was empty.
The baron had fled, taking with him the man who had been left to guard him--Corporal Bavois, of the grenadiers.
The amazement was as intense as the indignation, but the fright was still greater.
There was not a single officer who did not tremble on thinking of his responsibility; not one who did not see his hopes of advancement blighted forever.
What should they say to the formidable Duc de Sairmeuse and to the Marquis de Courtornieu, who, in spite of his calm and polished manners, was almost as much to be feared. It was necessary to warn them, however, and a sergeant was despatched with the news.
Soon they made their appearance, accompanied by Martial; all frightfully angry.
M. de Sairmeuse especially seemed beside himself.
He swore at everybody, accused everybody, threatened everybody.
He began by consigning all the keepers and guards to prison; he even talked of demanding the dismissal of all the officers.
"As for that miserable Bavois," he exclaimed, "as for that cowardly deserter, he shall be shot as soon as we capture him, and we will capture him, you may depend upon it!"
They had hoped to appease the duke"s wrath a little, by informing him of Lacheneur"s arrest; but he knew this already, for Chupin had ventured to awake him in the middle of the night to tell him the great news.
The baron"s escape afforded the duke an opportunity to exalt Chupin"s merits.
"The man who has discovered Lacheneur will know how to find this traitor d"Escorval," he remarked.