And indeed, some more faces, furious and contorted with rage, showed themselves at the windows, crying,—
“Escaped, gone, they have helped them off!”
And the people in the street repeated, with fearful imprecations,—
“Escaped! gone! After them, and catch them!”
“Monseigneur, it seems that Mynheer Cornelius has really escaped,” said the officer.
“Yes, from prison, perhaps, but not from the town; you will see, Van Deken, that the poor fellow will find the gate closed against him which he hoped to find open.”
“Has an order been given to close the town gates, Monseigneur?”
“No,—at least I do not think so; who could have given such an order?”
“Indeed, but what makes your Highness suppose?”
“There are fatalities,” Monseigneur replied, in an offhand manner; “and the greatest men have sometimes fallen victims to such fatalities.”