ich one gentleman owes to another."

"Monsieur de Chanlay, all these objections seem to me like shuffling.
You have sworn to obey--do so now."

"I swore to obey," replied the chevalier, "but not as a servant."

"You swore to obey as a slave. Obey, then, or submit to the consequences
of your disobedience!"

"Monsieur le Marquis--!"

"My dear Gaston," cried Montlouis, "speak, I beg, as soon as possible:
by a word you can remove all suspicion."

"Suspicion!" cried Gaston, pale with anger, "am _I_ suspected, then?"

"Certainly you are," said Pontcalec, with his ordinary roughness. "Do
you think if we did not suspect you we should amuse ourselves by
following you on such a night as this?"

"Oh, that is quite another matter!" said Gaston, coldly; "tell me your
suspicions--I listen."

"Chevalier, remember the facts; we four were conspiring together, and
we did not seek your aid; you offered it, saying, that besides being
willing to aid in the public good, you had a private revenge to serve in
this. Am I not right?"

"You are."

"We received you--welcomed you as a friend, as a brother; we told you
all our hopes, all our plans; nay, more--you were elected, by chance,
the one to strike the glorious blow. Each one of us offered to take your
part, but you refused. Is it not so?"

"You have spoken the strictest truth, marquis."

"This very morning we drew the lots; this evening you should be on the
road to Paris. Instead of that, where do we find you? on the road to
Clisson, where are lodged the mortal enemies of Breton independence,
where lives your sworn foe--the Marechal de Montesquieu."

"Ah! monsieur," said Gaston, scornfully.

"Reply by open words, and not by sneers: reply, M. de Chanlay, and
quickly."

"Reply, Gaston," said Du Couedic and Montlouis, imploringly.

"And to what am I to reply?"

"You are to account for your frequent absence during the last two
months--for the mystery which surrounds you--for refusing, as you do,
once or twice weekly, to join our nightly meetings. We confess, Gaston,
all this has made us uneasy; by a word you can reassure us."

"You see, monsieur, that you are proved guilty by hiding, instead of
pursuing your course."

"I did not pursue my course, because my horse was wounded; you may see
the stains of blood upon the road."

"But why did you hide?"

"Because I wished to know first who was pursuing me. Have I not the fear
of being arrested, as well as yourselves?"

"