LAFFEMAS (_alone_).
The seal of State! The great seal of red wax!
Come! this is business. Let me know at once!
[_Reading._] "Sir Criminal Lieutenant: We make known
To you that Didier, the assassin of
The late Marquis Gaspard, has fled." My God!
That is unfortunate! "A woman is
With him, called Marion de Lorme. We beg
You to return as soon as possible."
Quick! Get me horses! I, who felt so sure!
Another matter spoiled for want of sense.
Outrageous! Of the two, not one! One, dead!
Escaped, the other! I will catch him, though!
[_He exits. Enter a troupe of strolling actors, men, women and children
in character costumes. Among them are Marion and Didier, dressed as
Spaniards. Didier wears a great felt hat and is covered with a cloak._