Martin wishes to speak to him."

A minute later the merchant himself, a handsome man of about the
same age as Jean Martin, came down.

"Ah! madame, I am glad indeed to see you," he said; for he had more
than once been up to Nantes, during the time she was living there,
and had been frequently at the house. "I have been in great anxiety
about you."

"Has Jean been here?" she asked, in a tone of intense anxiety.

"No, madame, I have heard nothing of him for many months; not,
indeed, since his lugger first came down here, with his letter and
the deed of her sale to myself. Did you expect to find him here?"

"I hoped so, although there was no arrangement between us to meet
here. Still, I thought that he would have made his way down here,
if possible, as he would then be able to escape in the lugger."

"He may have found it more difficult than he thought," Monsieur
Flambard said, soothingly. "But do not let us be standing here.
Pray, come up. My wife will be glad to welcome you, for she has
often heard me speak of Martin's English wife."

Leigh had been standing behind Patsey while they spoke but, as the
merchant closed the door, his eye fell upon him.

"Ah, monsieur, now I recognize you. You are Monsieur Leigh
Stansfield, the brother of madame. I welcome you also, cordially."

So saying, he led the way upstairs.

Chapter 17: A Grave Risk.

Nothing could be kinder than the reception of the fugitives by
Madame Flambard. She had heard so much of Patsey, she said, from
her husband, to whom she had been married six months before, that
she had quite shared his anxiety about the fate of Jean Martin, who
had more than once been mentioned as being one of the leaders of
the Vendeans. She soon went off with Patsey to put the child to bed
and, while they were away, Monsieur Flambard took Leigh into his
smoking room.

"Before," he said, "I ask you anything about your adventures, I
must explain to you the state of things here. Until November last
Bordeaux, and indeed the whole of the Gironde, was moderate. All
our deputies--who have now, as perhaps you know, either fallen on
the scaffold or been hunted down like wild beasts--belonged to that
party. They were earnest reformers, and were prominent among the
leaders of the Revolution. They went with the stream, up to a
certain point. They voted for most of the sanguinary decrees,
although in time they strove to mitigate the horrors inflicted by
the extreme party; but a