Part 38 (1/2)
He paused, and that, ghost of a s of that day when he had fooled Heron and Chauvelin into the belief that their devilry had succeeded, and that they had brought the reckless adventurer to his knees He smiled at the recollection of their wrath when they knew that they had been tricked, and after a quarter of an hour's anxious waiting found a few sheets of paper scribbled over with incoherent words or satirical verse, and the prisoner having apparently snatched ten ly had restored to hith
But of this he told Marguerite nothing, nor of the insults and the humiliation which he had had to bear in consequence of that trick He did not tell her that directly afterwards the order went forth that the prisoner was to be kept on bread and water in the future, nor that Chauvelin had stood by laughing and jeering while
No! he did not tell her all that; the recollection of it all had still the power to reat ga cards hi?
”It is your turn now,” he had said even then to his bitter enemy
”Yes!” Chauvelin had replied, ”our turn at last And you will not bend entleht of it all, of that hand to hand, will to will, spirit to spirit struggle that lighted up his haggard face even now, gave him a fresh zest for life, a desire to combat and to conquer in spite of all, in spite of the odds that had martyred his body but left the mind, the will, the power still unconquered
He was pressing one of the papers into her hand, holding her fingers tightly in his, and coaze with the ardent excitement of his own
”This first letter is for Ffoulkes,” he said ”It relates to the final measures for the safety of the Dauphin They are ue who are in or near Paris at the present moment Ffoulkes, I know, must be with you--he was not likely, God bless his loyalty, to let you coive this letter to hiht, and tell him that it is my express command that he and the others shall act in minute accordance with my instructions”
”But the Dauphin surely is safe now,” she urged ”Ffoulkes and the others are here in order to help you”
”To help me, dear heart?” he interposed earnestly ”God alone can do that now, and such ofout of me within the next ten days”
Ten days!
”I have waited a week, until this hour when I could place this packet in your hands; another ten days should see the Dauphin out of France--after that, we shall see”
”Percy,” she exclaiony of horror, ”you cannot endure this another day--and live!”
”Nay!” he said in a tone that was almost insolent in its proud defiance, ”there is but little that a man cannot do an he sets his mind to it For the rest, 'tis in God's hands!” he added ently ”Dear heart! you swore that you would be brave The Dauphin is still in France, and until he is out of it he will not really be safe; his friends wanted to keep him inside the country God only knohat they still hope; had I been free I should not have allowed hiood people at Mantes will yield to my letter and to Ffoulkes' earnest appeal--they will allow one of our League to convey the child safely out of France, and I'll wait here until I know that he is safe If I tried to get away now, and succeeded--why, Heaven help us! the hue and cry ht be captured before I could get to him Dear heart! dear, dear heart! try to understand The safety of that child is bound with mine honour, but I swear to you, my sweet love, that the day on which I feel that that safety is assured I will save mine own skin--what there is left of it--if I can!”
”Percy!” she cried with a sudden outburst of passionate revolt, ”you speak as if the safety of that child were of more moment than your own
Ten days!--but, God in Heaven! have you thought how I shall live these ten days, whilst slowly, inch by inch, you give your dear, your precious life for a forlorn cause?
”I ahtly; ”'tis not a question of life I shall only be spending a few more very uncomfortable days in this d--d hole; but what of that?”
Her eyes spoke the reply; her eyes veiled with tears, that wandered with heart-breaking anxiety from the hollow circles round his own to the lines of weariness about the firhed at her solicitude
”I can last out longer than these brutes have any idea of,” he said gaily
”You cheat yourself, Percy,” she rejoined with quiet earnestness ”Every day that you spend i torment of sleeplessness which these devils have devised for the breaking of your will--every day thus spent di yourself You see, I speak cale h in the balance is the claim of all those for whom in the past you have already staked your life, whose lives you have purchased by risking your own What, in comparison with your noble life, is that of the puny descendant of a line of decadent kings? Why should it be sacrificed--ruthlessly, hopelessly sacrificed that a boyto the world, to his country--even to his own people?”
She had tried to speak cal her voice beyond a whisper