It was early in the afternoon when Monsieur Perrot, with his
daughter behind him on a pillion, and his servant riding a short
distance in the rear, rode under the gateway of Parthenay. A party
of soldiers were at the gateway, and a gendarmerie officer stood
near. The latter glanced carelessly at the passport which the
merchant showed him, and the travellers rode on.
"Peste!" one of the soldiers said; "what is monsieur the Marquis de
Pignerolles doing here, riding about dressed as a bourgeois, with a
young woman at his back?"
"Which is the Marquis de Pignerolles?" one of the others said.
"He who has just ridden by. He was colonel of my regiment, and I
know him as well as I do you."
"It can't be him, Pierre. I saw Louis Godier yesterday, he has come
home on leave--he belongs to this town, you know--wounded at Lille.
He was telling me about the siege, and he said that the marquis was
taken prisoner by the English."
"Prisoner or not prisoner," the other said obstinately, "that is
the marquis. Why, man, do you think one could be mistaken in his
own colonel?--a good officer, too; rather strict perhaps, but a
good soldier, and a lion to fight."
The gendarme moved quietly away, and repeated what he had heard to
his captain.
"The Marquis de Pignerolles, travelling under the name of Monsieur
Perrot, silk merchant of Nantes, with a young lady behind him," the
officer exclaimed. "While he is supposed to be a prisoner in
England? This must be his daughter, for whom we made such a search
two years ago, and who has been on our lists ever since.
"This is important, Andre. I will go at once to the prefecture, and
obtain an order for their arrest. They will be sure to have put up
at the Fleur de Lys, it is the only hostelry where they could find
decent accommodation. Go at once, and keep an eye on them. There is
no great hurry, for they will not think of going further today, and
the prefect will be at dinner just at present, and hates being
disturbed."
The marquis and Adele were standing over a blazing fire of logs in
the best room of the Fleur de Lys, when Rupert, who was looking out
of the casemented window, said:
"Monsieur le marquis, I do not want to alarm you unnecessarily, but
there is a gendarme on the other side of the street watching this
house. He was standing by a group of soldiers at the gate when we
rode through. I happened to notice him particularly.
"He is walking slowly backwards and forwards. I saw him when I was
at the door a quarter of an hour ago, and he is there still, and
just now I saw him glance up at these windows. He is watching us.
That is why I made an excuse to come up here to ask you about the
horses."
"Are you sure, Rupert?"
"Quite sure," Rupert said, gravely.
"Then there is no doubt about it," the marquis said; "for I know
that you would not alarm us unnecessarily. What do you advise?"
"I will go down," Rupert said, "and put the saddles on quietly. The
stable opens into the street behind. There is a flight of stairs at
the end of the long passage here, which leads down into a passage
below, at the end of which is a door into the stable yard. I have
just been examining it. I should recommend Adele to put on her
things, and to be in readiness, and then to remain in her room. If
you keep a watch here, you will see everyone coming down the
street, and the moment you see an officer approaching, if you will
lock the door outside and take the key with you, then call Adele,
and come down the back stairs with her into the yard, I will have
the horses in readiness. There is only one man in the stable. A
crown piece will make him shut his eyes as we ride out, and they
will be five minutes at the door before they find that we have
gone."
The marquis at once agreed to the plan, and Rupert went down into
the stable yard, and began to resaddle the horses.
"What, off again?" the ostler said.
"Yes," Rupert answered. "Between you and I, my master has just seen
a creditor to whom he owes a heavy bill, and he wants to slip away
quietly. Here is a crown for yourself, to keep your tongue between
your teeth.
"Now lend me a hand with these saddles, and help bring them out
quickly when I give the word."
The horses resaddled and turned in their stables ready to be
brought out without a moment's delay, Rupert took his place at the
entrance, and watched the door leading from the hotel. In ten
minutes it opened, and the marquis, followed by Adele, came out.
"Quick with that horse," Rupert said to the ostler; and seeing to
the other, they were in the yard as soon as the marquis came up.
"An officer and eight men," he whispered to Rupert as he leapt into
the saddle, while Rupert lifted Adele on to the pillion.
"Mounted?"
"No."
"Then we have a good half-hour's start.
"Which is the way to the west gate?"
"Straight on, till you reach the wall; follow that to the right, it
will bring you to the gate."
Rupert vaulted into his saddle, and the party rode out into the
street; and then briskly, but without any appearance of
extraordinary haste, until they reached the gate.
The guardian of the gate was sitting on a low block of wood at the
door of the guardroom. There was, Rupert saw, no soldier about.
Indeed, the place was quiet, for the evening was falling, and but
few people cared to be about in those times after nightfall.
An idea flashed across Rupert's mind, and he rode up to the
marquis:
"Please lead my horse," he said. "Wait for me a hundred yards on. I
will be with you in three minutes."
Without waiting for an answer, he leapt from his horse, threw the
reins to the marquis, and ran back to the gate, which was but
thirty yards back.
"A word with you, good man," he said, going straight into the
guardroom.
"Hullo!" the man said, getting up and following him in. "And who
may you be, I should like to know, who makes so free?"
Rupert, without a word, sprang upon the man and bore him to the
ground. Then, seeing that there was an inner room, he lifted him,
and ran him in there, the man being too astonished to offer the
slightest resistance. Then Rupert locked him in, and taking down
the great key of the gate, which hung over the fireplace, went out,
closed the great gate of the town, locked it on the outside, and
threw the key into the moat. Then he went off at a run and joined
the marquis, who with Adele was waiting anxiously at the distance
he had asked him.
"What have you been doing, Rupert?"
"I have just locked the great gate and thrown the key into the
moat," Rupert said. "The gate is a solid one, and they will not get
it open tonight. If they are to pursue us, they must go round to
one of the other gates, and then make a circuit to get into this
road again. I have locked the porter up, and I don't suppose they
will find it out till they ride up, half an hour hence. They will
try for another quarter of an hour to open the gate, and it will be
another good half-hour's ride to get round by the road, so we have
over one hour's start."
"Capital, indeed," the marquis said, as they galloped forward. "The
dangers you have gone through have made you quick witted indeed,
Rupert.
"I see you have changed saddles."
"Yes, your horse had been carrying double all day, so I thought it
better to give a turn to the other. It is fortunate that we have
been making short journeys each day, and that our horses are
comparatively fresh."
"Why did you come out by the west gate, Rupert? The north was our
way."
"Yes, our direct way," Rupert said; "but I was thinking it over
while waiting for you. You see with the start we have got and good
horses, we might have kept ahead of them for a day; but with one
horse carrying double, there is no chance of us doing so for eighty
miles. We must hide up somewhere to let the horses rest. They would
make sure that we were going to take ship, and would be certain to
send on straight to Nantes, so that we should be arrested when we
arrive there.
"As it is we can follow this road for thirty miles, as if going to
La Rochelle, and then strike up for a forty miles ride across to
Nantes."
"Well thought of, indeed," Monsieur de Pignerolles said.
"Adele, this future lord and master of yours is as long headed as
he is long limbed."
Adele laughed happily. The excitement, and the fresh air and the
brisk pace, had raised her spirits; and with her father and lover
to protect her, she had no fear of the danger that threatened them.
"With a ten miles start they ought not to overtake us till morning,
Rupert."
"No," Rupert said, "supposing that we could keep on, but we cannot.
The horses have done twenty-five miles today. They have had an hour
and a half's rest, but we must not do more than as much farther, or
we shall run the risk of knocking them up."
So they rode on at a fast trot for three hours.
"Here is a little road to the right," Rupert said. "Let us ride up
there, and stop at the first house we come to."
It was a mere byroad, and as once out of the main road they were
for the present safe from pursuit, they now suffered the horses to
break into a walk. It was not until two miles had been passed that
they came to a small farmhouse. Rupert dismounted and knocked at
the door.
"Who is there?" a voice shouted within.
"Travellers, who want shelter and are ready to pay well for it."
"No, no," the voice said. "No travellers come along here, much less
at this time of night. Keep away. We are armed, I and my son, and
it will be worse for you if you do not leave us alone."
"Look here, good man, we are what I say," Rupert said. "Open an
upstairs casement and show a light, and you will see that we have a
lady with us. We are but two men. Look out, I say. We will pay you
well. We need shelter for the lady."
There was more talking within, and then a heavy step was heard
ascending the stairs. Then a light appeared in an upper room. The
casement opened and a long gun was first thrust out, then a face
appeared.
The night was not a very dark one, and he was able to see the form
of the horse, and of a rider with a female figure behind him. So
far assured, he brought a light and again looked out. The
inspection was satisfactory, for he said:
"I will open the door directly."
Soon Adele was sitting before a fire bright with logs freshly
thrown on. The horses, still saddled, were placed in a shed with an
ample allowance of food. One of the sons, upon the promise of a
handsome reward, started to go a mile down the road, with
instructions to discharge his gun if he heard horsemen coming up
it.
In a quarter of an hour Adele, thoroughly fatigued with her day's
exertions, went to lie down on the bed ordinarily used by the
farmer's daughter. The marquis wrapped himself in his cloak and lay
down in front of the fire, while Rupert took the first watch
outside.
The night passed quietly, and at daybreak the next morning the
party were again in their saddles. Their intention was to ride by
cross lanes parallel to the main road, and to come into that road
again when they felt sure they were ahead of their pursuers, who,
with riding nearly all night, would be certain to come to the
conclusion that they were ahead of the fugitives, and would begin
to search for some signs of where they had left the road.
They instructed their hosts to make no secret of their having been
there, but to tell the exact truth as to their time of arrival and
departure, and to say that from their conversation they were going
south to La Rochelle.
The windings of the country roads that they traversed added greatly
to the length of the journey, and the marquis proposed that they
should strike at once across it for Nantes. Rupert, however, begged
him to continue the line that they had chosen and to show at least
once on the La Rochelle road, so as to lead their pursuers to the
conclusion that it was to that town that they were bound.
In the middle of the day they halted for two hours at a farmhouse,
and allowed their horses to rest and feed, and then shifted the
saddles again, for Rupert had, since starting in the morning, run
the greater part of the way with his hand on the horse's saddle, so
that the animal was quite fresh when they reached their first
halting place.
They then rode on and came down into the La Rochelle road, at a
spot near which they had heard that a wayside inn stood at which
they could obtain refreshments. The instant they drew rein at the
door, they saw from the face of the landlord that inquiries had
been made for them.
"You had better not dismount, sir. These fellows may play you some
trick or other. I will bring some refreshments out, and learn the
news."
So saying, Rupert leapt from his horse, took his pistols from their
holsters, placed one in his belt, and having cocked the other, went
up to the landlord.
"Bring out five manchettes of bread," he said, "and a few bottles
of your best wine; and tell me how long is it since men came here
asking if you had seen us?"
"This morning, about noon," the man said. "Two gendarmes came
along, and a troop of soldiers passed an hour since; they came from
Parthenay."
"Did they say anything besides asking for us? Come, here is a louis
to quicken your recollection."
"They said to each other, as they drank their wine, that you could
not have passed here yet, since you could not get fresh horses, as
they had done. Moreover, they said that troops from every place on
the road were out in search of you."
"Call your man, and bid him bring out quickly the things I have
named," Rupert said.
The man did so; and a lad, looking scared at the sight of Rupert's
drawn pistol, brought out the wine and bread, and three drinking
horns.
"How far is it to La Rochelle?" Rupert asked.
"Thirty-five miles."
"Are there any byroads, by which we can make a detour, so as to
avoid this main road, and so come down either from the north or
south into the town?"
The landlord gave some elaborate directions.
"Good!" Rupert said. "I think we shall get through yet."
Then he broke up two of the portions of bread, and gave them to the
horses, removed the bits from their mouths, and poured a bottle of
wine down each of their throats; then bridled up and mounted,
throwing two louis to the host, and saying:
"We can trust you to be secret as to our having been here, can we
not?"
The landlord swore a great oath that he would say nothing of their
having passed, and they then rode on.
"That landlord had 'rogue' written on his face," Adele said.
"Yes, indeed," Rupert said. "I warrant me by this time he has sent
off to the nearest post. Now we will take the first road to the
north, and make for Nantes. It is getting dark now, and we must not
make more than another ten miles. These poor brutes have gone
thirty already."
Two hours' further riding at an easy pace brought them to a
village, where they were hospitably received at the house of the
maire of the place.
The start was again made early.
"We must do our best today," the marquis said. "We have a
fifty-five mile ride before us; and if the horses take us there,
their work is done, so we can press them to the utmost. The troops
will have been marching all night along the road on which the
innkeeper set them; but by this morning they will begin to suspect
that they have been put on a false scent, and as likely as not will
send to Nantes. We must be first there, if possible."
The horses, however, tired by their long journeys on the two
preceding days, flagged greatly during the last half of the
journey, and it was late in the afternoon before they came in sight
of Nantes. At a slight rise half a mile from the town Rupert looked
back along the straight, level road on which they had ridden the
last few miles of the journey.
"There is a body of men in the distance, marquis. A troop of
cavalry, I should say. They are a long way behind--three miles or
so; and if they are in chase of us, their horses must be fagged;
but in five-and-twenty minutes they will be here."
They urged their weary steeds into a gallop as far as the town, and
then rode quietly along the streets into an inn yard. Here they
dismounted in a leisurely way.
"Take the horses round to the stable, rub them down and give them
food," the marquis said to the ostler who came out.
Then turning to the host, he said:
"A sitting room, with a good fire. Two bedrooms for myself and my
daughter, a bedroom for my servant. Prepare a meal at once. We have
a friend to see before we enter."
So saying, he turned with his daughter, as if to retrace his steps
up the street; but on reaching the first side street, turned, and
then, by another street, made his way down to the river, Rupert
following closely behind.
"There is La Belle Jeanne," the marquis exclaimed. "That is
fortunate. The captain said he should be returning in a week or ten
days, so I hope he has his cargo on board, and will be open to make
a start at once."