"Not a word."
I turned towards de Morin, and said to him—
"You see now, my dear fellow, that M. de Guéran is really a prisoner, and watched more narrowly than he would be on the hulks."
We had now only to thank our brave Ali for his services, and to send him to Madame de Guéran, who, after having read her letter, would certainly wish to question him.
As he was going away, Delange came up to us, and asked us whether we had heard the Queen's reply.
"What reply?" we enquired.
Having for the past hour been exclusively occupied with M. de Guéran and his concerns, we had forgotten all about the embassy sent by the King of the Monbuttoos to the Queen of Ulindi. Delange told us that, after having chatted for a moment with the Baroness, and handed her M. de Guéran's letter, he had joined Munza. The latter had just received the report of his ambassadors, which was to the effect that the Queen absolutely declined either an alliance or an interview with him.
"I do not wish"—to use her own words—"the tribes from the north to enter my kingdom and bring their manners and customs with them. I do not go to them, and why should they come to me? An alliance with them is of no use to me; I am quite strong enough to defend myself against all my neighbours put together. Tell your master to return to his own dominions, and not to send me another embassy, because, if he does, he will never see it again; I will have every man in it put to death, from the first to the last."
"This reply," said Delange, "as you may well suppose, has exasperated Munza. He wants to cross the frontier at once, and attack the insolent Queen of the Walindis."
"We must not prevent him," replied de Morin. "It is our only method now of rescuing the Baron."