Now she blamed herself terribly for not having gone down to him sooner, and given him that word of warning and of love which, perhaps, after all, he needed. He could not know of the orders which Chauvelin had given for his capture, and even now, perhaps. . .
But before all these horrible thoughts had taken concrete form in her brain, she heard the grounding of arms outside, close to the door, and Desgas' voice shouting "Halt!" to his men.
Chauvelin had partially recovered; his sneezing had become less violent, and he had struggled to his feet. He managed to reach the door just as Desgas' knock was heard on the outside.
Chauvelin threw open the door, and before his secretary could say a word, he had managed to stammer between two sneezes--"The tall stranger--quick!--did any of you see him?""Where, citoyen?" asked Desgas, in surprise.
"Here, man! through that door! not five minutes ago.""We saw nothing, citoyen! The moon is not yet up, and. . .""And you are just five minutes too late, my friend," said Chauvelin, with concentrated fury.
"Citoyen. . .I. . ."
"You did what I ordered you to do," said Chauvelin, with impatience. "I know that, but you were a precious long time about it.