The Governor considered a moment with down-bent brows. "You may show him in, but first," he glanced up with a frown, "I have a question to put to you."
"Your Excellency?"
"This morning you thought fit to apprise me," Beppo looked uncomfortable, "in view of the events of last night--that you saw yesterday this fellow, Sanchez, setting out in a sail-boat, accompanied by a priest--a fact that might have been of great service to me, had I been aware of it in season!" The Governor paused to allow the full weight of his disapproval to be felt. "At what hour did you see them start out?"
"About dusk, the time of the "grand" tide," was the crestfallen answer.
"I was following the sh.o.r.e, feeling anxious on account of the Lady Elise, who, I knew, had gone in the direction of the forest, when I saw them, some distance out, but not too far to recognize this fellow"s boat and in it two men, one of them in the black robes of a priest. I attached no importance to the incident until--"
The Governor interrupted. "You may send the prisoner in," he said shortly. "No--wait!" Toward the spot where the girl had been standing the Governor glanced quickly, but that post of observation was now vacant, and his Excellency more deliberately looked around; caught no sight of her. "You may send him in here," he said, "alone. I will speak with the prisoner in private."
CHAPTER XI
THE GOVERNOR IS SURPRISED
But the Lady Elise had not gone. Pa.s.sing from the cloister through the great arched doorway leading to the high-roofed refectory, she had stopped at the sight of a number of people gathered near the entrance.
At first she had merely glanced at them; then started, as, in the somewhat dim light prevailing there, her eyes became fixed upon one of their number.
Obviously a prisoner, he stood in the center of the group, with head down-bent, a hard, indifferent expression on his countenance. Amazed, the girl was about to step forward to address him--or the commandant--when Beppo appeared from the cloister, walked toward the officer, and, in a low ill-humored tone, said something she could not hear. Whatever it was, the commandant caused him to repeat it; made a gesture to the soldiers, who drew back, and spoke himself to the prisoner.
The latter did not reply nor raise his eyes, and the commandant laid a heavy hand on his shoulder, whereupon the prisoner moved forward mechanically, through the doorway.
"You are sure his Excellency said "alone"?" asked the commandant.
"As sure as I have ears," answered Beppo. "But her ladyship--see! She is walking after him."
Beppo shrugged his shoulders. "_She_ always does what she pleases; no orders apply to her."
In the shadow of the cloister roof, at a corner where the double row of pillars met, the girl paused; looked out through the columns, her hand at her breast. The Governor was unconcernedly writing; not even when the prisoner stepped forward did he turn from his occupation; at his leisure dotted an "i" and crossed a "t"; sprinkled sand lightly over the paper; waited a moment; then tapped the fine particles from the letter. For his part, the prisoner displayed equal patience, standing in an att.i.tude of stolid endurance.
"Your name is Sanchez?" At length the Governor seemed to notice the other"s presence.
"Yes."
"And you formerly served the Seigneur Desaurac? Followed him to America?"
"As your Excellency knows." The servant"s tone was veiled defiance.
A trace of pink sprang to the Governor"s brow, though the eyes he lifted were impa.s.sive. "You will answer "yes" or "no"!" He reached for a stick of wax, held it up to the tiny flame of a lamp; watched the red drops fall. "When you returned, it was to live in the forest with--a nameless brat?"
"My master"s son!"
"By a peasant woman, his--"
"Wife!"
The Governor smiled; applying a seal, pressed it hard. "The courts found differently," he observed in a mild, even voice, as speaking to himself and extolling the cause of justice.
"The courts! Because the priest who married them had been driven from Brittany! Because he could not be found then! Because--" The man"s indignation had got the better of his taciturnity, but he did not finish the sentence.
"Either," said the Governor quietly, "you are one of those simple-minded people who, misguided by loyalty, cherish illusions, or you are a scheming rogue. No matter which, unfortunately," in crisp tones, "it is necessary to take time to deal with you."
"At your Excellency"s service!" And the man folded his arms but, again turning to his table, the Governor apparently found some detail of employment there of paramount importance; once more kept the prisoner waiting.
The silence lengthened; in the dim light of the walk noiselessly the girl drew nearer; unseen, reached the old abbot"s great granite chair with its sheltering back to the court and close to the Governor"s table. Into the capacious depths of this chilly throne, where once the high and holy dignitary of the church had been accustomed to recline while brethren laved his feet from the tiny stone lavatorium before it, she half sank, her cheek against one of its cold sides; in an att.i.tude of expectation breathlessly waited. Why was it so still? Why did not her father speak? She could hear his pen scratch, scratch!
They were again speaking; more eagerly she bent forward; listened to the hard, metallic voice of the Governor.
"You left the castle at once when the decree of the court, ordering it vacated, was posted in the forest?"
"My master told me to, pretending he was going, but--"
"Remained to resist; to kill." The Governor"s tones, without being raised, were sharper. "And when, after the crime against these instruments of justice, he escaped to the high seas, why did you not go with him?"
"He wouldn"t have it."
"Thinking you would be more useful here? A spy?"
"He said he would be held an outlaw; a price put on him, and--he dismissed me from his service."
"Dismissed you? An excellent jest! But," with sudden incisiveness, "what about the priest, eh? What about the priest?"
The man straightened. "What priest?" he said in a dogged tone.
"You are accused of harboring and abetting an unfrocked fellow who has long been wanted by the government, a scamp of revolutionary tendencies; you are accused of having taken him to sea," the prisoner started, "to some rendezvous--a distant isle--to meet some one; to wait for a ship; to be smuggled away--?"
The man did not reply; with head sunk slightly, seemed lost in thought.
"Speak--answer!"
"Who accuses me?"
From the stone chair the girl sprang; looked out. Her face white, excited, peering beneath the delicate spandrils and stone roses, seemed to come as an answer.
"Have I not told you--" began the Governor sternly, when--
"Bah!" burst from the prisoner violently. "Why should I deny what your Excellency so well knows? I told my master not to trust her; that she would play him false; and that once out of his hands--"
"Her? Whom do you mean?" The Governor"s eyes followed the man"s; stopped. "Elise!"
"I think," her eyes very bright, the girl walked quickly toward them, "I think this man means me."
"Elise!" the Governor repeated.
"Forgive me, _mon pere_; I didn"t intend to listen, but I couldn"t help it--because--"