,
and she had not gone to bed, expecting to see the gendarmes appear; her
only idea was to fly to Tournebut and hide herself there with her
daughter; she begged the lawyer to accompany them, and while excitedly
talking, tied a woollen shawl round her head. Lefebre, who was calmer,
told her that he had left Mme. Acquet at Noron in a state of exhaustion,
that they must wait until she was in a condition to travel before
starting, and that it would be impossible to obtain a carriage at this
time of night. But Mme. de Combray would listen to nothing; she gave her
gardener three crowns to go to Noron and tell Mme. Acquet that she must
start immediately for Tournebut by Saint-Sylvain and Lisieux; then
traversing the deserted streets with Lefebre, who stopped at his house
to get the three thousand francs, from the robbery of June 7th, she
reached the Val d'Ante and took the road to Caen.

It was very dark; the storm had ceased but the rain still fell heavily.
The old Marquise continued her journey over the flooded roads, defying
fatigue and only stopping occasionally to make sure she was not
followed. Lefebre, now afraid also, hastened his steps beside her,
bending beneath the weight of his portmanteau filled with crowns.
Neither spoke. The endless road was the same one taken by the waggon
containing the Alencon money on the day of the robbery, and the
remembrance of this rendered their wild night march still more tragic.

It was scarcely dawn when the fugitives crossed the wood of Quesnay; at
Langannerie they left the highroad and crossed by Bretteville-le-Rabet.
It was now broad daylight, barns were opening, and people looked
astonished at this strange couple who seemed to have been walking all
night; the Marquise especially puzzled them, with her hair clinging to
her cheeks, her skirts soaked and her slippers covered with mud. But no
one dared question them.

At six in the morning Mme. de Combray and her companion arrived at
Saint-Sylvain, five good leagues from Falaise. If Mme. Acquet had
succeeded in leaving Noron they ought to meet her there. Lefebre
enquired at the inn, but no one had been there. They waited for two
hours which the lawyer employed in seeking a waggon to go on to Lisieux.
A peasant agreed to take them for fifteen francs paid in advance, and
about eight o'clock, as Mme. Acquet had not arrived they decided to
start. They stopped at Croissanville a little further on, and while
breakfasting, Lefebre wrote