Baroness Orczy

“ On the ground close by the hearth was the small lantern, and in its dim light the packet of papers gleamed white and tempting in the darkness. Chauvelin's keen eyes had fastened on it and saw the form of receipt for money with Henriot's signature, which he recognized, on the top.
He himself had never felt so calm. The only thing he could regret was that he was alone. Half a dozen men now, and this impudent foe could indeed be brought to his knees. ”

“ We only want you to be reasonable. You have promised to your former employer that you would never tell any one of his whereabouts. Well, we don't ask you to tell us anything. All that we want you to do is to write a letter to M. le Marquis—one that I myself will dictate to you. You have written to M. le Marquis before now, on business matters, have you not?"
"Yes, monsieur. Yes, citizen," stammered Lucile through her tears. "Father was bailiff to M. le Marquis until he became a cripple, and now I——"
"Do not write any letter, Lucile," Étienne suddenly broke in with forceful vehemence. ”

“ Then, as Chauvelin—fuming, irritated despite himself as he always was when he encountered that impudent Englishman—shrugged his shoulders in token of contempt, Blakency's powerful grasp suddenly clutched his arm.
"Let us understand one another, my good M. Chambertin," he said coolly. "Those unfortunate Clamettes, as you say, are too helpless and too numerous to smuggle across Paris with any chance of success. Therefore I look to you to take them under your protection. They are all stowed away comfortably at this moment in a conveyance which I have provided for them. ”

“ The Clamette family was such a precious hostage that the Montorgueils were bound to comply with Lucile's demand for the papers by every dictate of honor and of humanity.
"While we have those people in our power," Chauvelin had reiterated to himself more than once during the course of his long vigil, "even that meddlesome Scarlet Pimpernel can do nothing to save those cursed Montorgueils." ”

“ Lebel gave a snort of satisfaction, but the other did not move from his position near the window. The boy, Étienne, had uttered a cry of passionate protest.
"Do not give M. le Marquis away, Lucile!" he said hotly. "I am not afraid to die."
But Lucile had made up her mind. How could she do otherwise with these awful threats hanging over them all? She and Étienne and poor father gone, and the two young ones in one of those awful Houses of Correction, where children were taught to hate the Church, to shun the Sacraments and to blaspheme God! ”

“ The position now was one which would have made even a braver man than Chauvelin quake. He stood alone and unarmed in face of an enemy from whom he could expect no mercy. But, even so, his first thought was not of escape. He had not only appraised his own danger but also the immense power which he held while the Clamettes remained as hostages in the hands of his colleague, Lebel. ”

“ And as such they'll walk up in state to make their bow to Mme. la Guillotine!"
"May we go now?" stammered Lucile through her tears.
Lebel nodded in assent, and the girl rose and turned to walk toward the door. She called to the children, and the little ones clustered round her skirts like chicks around the mother hen. Only Étienne remained aloof, wrathful against his sister for what he deemed her treachery.
"Women have no sense of honor!" he muttered to himself with all the pride of conscious manhood. ”

“ As it is, you either sit down and write the letter at Citizen Chauvelin's dictation at once, or I send you with that impudent brother of yours and your imbecile father to jail, on a charge of treason against the state, for aiding and abetting the enemies of the republic. And you know what the consequences of such a charge usually are. The other two brats will go to a House of Correction, there to be detained during the pleasure of the Committee of Public Safety. ”

“ What should I know about it?"
"Some of those receipts are signed with your name, Citizen Lebel," riposted Chauvelin forcefully. "Bah!" he added, and a tone of savage contempt crept into his even, calm voice now. "Henriot, Foucquier, Ducros and the whole gang of you are in it up to the neck: trafficking with our enemies, trading with England, taking bribes from every quarter for working against the safety of the republic. ”

“ Citizen Lebel," replied Chauvelin with perfect composure. "The right conferred upon me by the Committee of Public Safety, of whom I am still an unworthy member. They sent me down here to lend you a hand in an investigation which is of grave importance to them."
"I know that!" retorted Lebel sulkily. "But why have you invented the story of the papers?"
"It is no invention, citizen." rejoined Chauvelin with slow emphasis. "The papers do exist. They are in the possession of the ci-devant Montorgueils, father and son. ”

“ You can kill me, of course, but, if I do not return from this expedition, not only safe and sound but with a certain packet of papers in my hands, my colleague, Lebel, has instructions to proceed at once against the girl, Gamette, and the whole family."
"I know that well enough." rejoined Sir Percy with a quaint laugh. "I know what venemous reptiles you and those of your kidney are. You certainly do owe your life at the present moment to the unfortunate girl whom you are persecuting with such infamous callousness. "
Chauvelin drew a sigh of relief. ”

“ Even if they do at first, we can apply the screw by clapping one of the young ones in jail. Within a week we shall have those papers, Citizen Lebel. And, if in the meanwhile no one commits a further blunder, we can close the trap on the Montorgueils without further trouble."
Lebel said nothing more, and after a while Chauvelin went back to the desk, picked up the letter which poor Lucile had written and watered with her tears, folded it deliberately and slipped it into the inner pocket of his coat. ”

“ The stillness of the air had become oppressive. A kind of torpor born of intense fatigue lulled the Terrorist's senses to somnolence. His head fell forward on his breast.
VI SUDDENLY a shiver of excitement went right through him. He was fully awake now, with glowing eyes wide open and the icy calm of perfect confidence ruling every nerve. The sound of stealthy footsteps had reached his ear.
He could see nothing, either outside or in, but his fingers felt for the pistol which he carried in his belt. The aristo was evidently alone; only one solitary footstep was approaching the château. ”

“ For a long while after that he remained quite still—as still as a man who has received a stunning blow. on the head and has partly lost consciousness. The blow was indeed a staggering one. Lucile Gamette, with the invincible power of her own helplessness, was demanding the surrender of a weapon which had been a safeguard for the Montorgueils all this white. The papers which compromised a number of influential members of the Committee of Public Safety had been the most perfect arms of defense against persecution and spoilation. ”

“ Henri de Montorgueil chose a peculiarly dark night early in September for one of his periodical visits to the hollow tree. It was close on nine o'clock when he passed stealthily down the lane, keeping close to the park wall. A soft rain was falling, the first since the prolonged drought, and, though it made the road heavy and slippery in places, it helped to deaden the sound of the young man's furtive footsteps. ”

“ I thank you for the safe-conducts. They will make our journey exceedingly pleasant. Shall I give your regards to M. le Marquis de Montorgueil or to M. le Vicomte? They are on board the Day-Dream, you know. Oh! I was forgetting! Lady Blakeney desired to be remembered to you."
The next moment he was gone. Chauvelin, standing at the window of the wayside house, saw Sir Percy Blakeney once more mount the box of the chaise. ”

“ They were clever, those revolutionaries. The thought of holding innocent children as hostages could only have originated in minds attuned to the villainies of devils. But it was unthinkable that the children should suffer. ”

“ By the light of the lantern he scribbled a few words on a scrap of paper torn from his pocketbook.
{{fine blockMy hear Lucile:
As you say, our debt to your father and to you all never could he adequately repaid. You and the children shall never suffer whilst we have the power to save you. You will find the papers in the receptacle you know of inside the chimney of what used to by my mother's boudoir. You will find the receptacle unlocked. One day before the term you name I myself will place the papers there for you. ”