Outside the door,standing in the dimness of the landing,I found M.d'Agen.At any other time I should have been the first to ask him why he had left the post which I had assigned to him.But at the moment I was off my balance,and his presence suggested nothing more than that here was the very person who could best execute my wishes.I held out the key to him at arms length,and bade him release Mademoiselle de la Vire,who was in the room above,and escort her out of the castle.'Do not let her linger here,'I continued urgently.'Take her to the place where we found the wood-cutters.You need fear no resistance.'
'But Bruhl?'he said,as he took the key mechanically from me.
'He is out of the question,'I answered in a low voice.'We have done with him.He has the plague.'
He uttered a sharp exclamation.'What of madame,then?'he muttered.
'She is with him,'I said.
He cried out suddenly at that,sucking in his breath,as I have known men do in pain.And but that I drew back he would have laid his hand on my sleeve.'With him?'he stammered.'How is that?'
'Why,man,where else should she be?'I answered,forgetting that the sight of those two together had at first surprised me also,as well as moved me.'Or who else should be with him?He is her husband.'
He stared at me for a moment at that,and then he turned slowly away and began to go up;while I looked after him,gradually thinking out the clue to his conduct.Could it be that it was not mademoiselle attracted him,but Madame de Bruhl?
And with that hint I understood it all.I saw in a moment;the conclusion to which he had come on hearing of the presence of madame in my room.In my room at night!The change had dated from that time;instead of a careless,light-spirited youth he had become in a moment a morose and restive churl,as difficult to manage as an unbroken colt.Quite clearly I saw now the meaning of the change;why he had shrunk from me,and why all intercourse between us had been so difficult;and so constrained.
I laughed to think how he had deceived himself,and how nearly Ihad come to deceiving myself also.And what more I might have thought I do not know,for my meditations were cut short at this point by a loud outcry below,which,beginning in one or two sharp cries of alarm and warning,culminated quickly in a roar of anger and dismay.
Fancying I recognised Maignan's voice,I ran down the stairs,seeking a loophole whence I could command the scene;but finding none,and becoming more and more alarmed,I descended to the court,which I found,to my great surprise,as empty and silent as an old battle-field.Neither on the enemy's side nor on ours was a single man to be seen.With growing dismay I sprang across the court and darted through the outer tower,only to find that and the gateway equally unguarded.Nor was it until I had passed through the latter,and stood on the brow of the slope,which we had had to clamber with so much toil,that I learned what was amiss.
Far below me a string of men,bounding and running at speed,streamed down the hill towards the horses.Some were shouting,some running silently,with their elbows at their sides and their scabbards leaping against their calves.The horses stood tethered in a ring near the edge of the wood,and by some oversight had been left unguarded.The foremost runner I made out to be Fresnoy;but a number of his men were close upon him,and then after an interval came Maignan,waving his blade and emitting frantic threats with every stride.Comprehending at once that Fresnoy and his following,rendered desperate by panic and the prospective loss of their horses,had taken advantage of my absence and given Maignan the slip,I saw I could do nothing save watch the result of the struggle.
This was not long delayed.Maignan's threats,which seemed to me mere waste of breath,were not without effect on those he followed.There is nothing which demoralises men like flight.
Troopers who have stood charge after charge while victory was possible will fly like sheep,and like sheep allow themselves to he butchered,when they have once turned the back.So it was here.Many of Fresnoy's men were stout fellows,but having started to run they had no stomach for fighting.Their fears caused Maignan to appear near,while the horses seemed distant;and one after another they turned aside and made like rabbits for the wood.Only Fresnoy,who had taken care to have the start of all,kept on,and,reaching the horses,cut the rope which tethered the nearest,and vaulted nimbly on its back.Safely seated there,he tried to frighten the others into breaking loose;but not succeeding at the first attempt,and seeing Maignan,breathing vengeance,coming up with him,he started his horse,a bright bay,and rode off laughing along the edge of the wood.
Fully content with the result--for our carelessness might have cost us very dearly--I was about to turn away when I saw that Maignan had mounted and was preparing to follow.I stayed accordingly to see the end,and from my elevated position enjoyed a first-rate view of the race which ensued.Both were heavy weights,and at first Maignan gained no ground.But when a couple of hundred yards had been covered Fresnoy had the ill-luck to blunder into some heavy ground,and this enabling his pursuer,who had time to avoid it,to get within two-score paces of him,the race became as exciting as I could wish.Slowly and surely Maignan,who had chosen the Cid,reduced the distance between them to a score of paces--to fifteen--to ten.Then Fresnoy,becoming alarmed,began to look over his shoulder and ride in earnest.He had no whip,and I saw him raise his sheathed sword,and strike his beast on the flank.It sprang forward,and appeared for a few strides to be holding its own.Again he repeated the blow but this time with a different result.While his hand was still in the air,his horse stumbled,as it seemed to me,made a desperate effort to recover itself,fell headlong and rolled over and over.
