lot, but he had, in killing the captain, broken with his own hand the
thread which should have served him as a clew to them, and, the center
link broken, the whole chain had become useless.

D'Harmental bit his lips till the blood came, and wandered to and fro,
from end to end of the market, still hoping that some unforeseen event
would get him out of his difficulty. Time, however, flowed away, the
market presented the same aspect, no one spoke to him, and two peasants
to whom despair had caused him to address some ambiguous words, had
opened their eyes and mouths in such profound astonishment that he had
instantly broken off the conversation, convinced that he was mistaken.

Five o'clock struck.

At eight or nine the regent would repair to Chelles, there was therefore
no time to be lost, particularly as this ambuscade was the last resource
for the conspirators, who might be arrested at any moment, and who
staked their remaining hopes on this last throw. D'Harmental did not
conceal from himself the difficulties of the situation; he had claimed
for himself the honor of the enterprise; on him therefore rested all the
responsibility--and that responsibility was terrible. On the other hand,
he found himself in one of those situations where courage is useless,
and where human will shatters itself against an impossibility, and where
the last chance is to confess one's weakness, and ask aid from those who
expect it of us. But D'Harmental was a man of determination; his
resolution was soon taken--he took a last turn round the market to see
if some conspirator would not betray himself by his impatience; but,
seeing that all faces retained their expression of unconcern, he put his
horse to the gallop, rode down the Boulevards, gained the Faubourg Saint
Antoine, dismounted at No. 15, went up the staircase, opened the door of
a little room, and found himself in the company of Madame de Maine,
Laval, Valef, Pompadour, Malezieux and Brigaud.

A general cry arose on seeing him.

D'Harmental related everything: the pretensions of Roquefinette, the
discussion which had followed, the duel which had terminated that
discussion. He opened his cloak and showed his shirt saturated with
blood; then he passed to the hopes which he had entertained of
recognizing the sham peasants, and putting himself at their head in
place of the captain. He showed his hopes destroyed, his investigations
useless, and wound up by an appeal to Laval, Pompadour