“Come on!—all is well!” said M. de Choiseul.
And he waved his hat, making signs out of the window.
A horseman approached at a gallop.
M. de Choiseul went down stairs to meet him.
The two gentlemen met in the high road.
The horseman, who was M. Goguelot, gave M. de Choiseul a packet from M. de Bouillé. This packet contained six blank signatures, and a copy of the order which had been given by the King to every officer of the army whatsoever his grade, commanding them in all things to obey M. de Choiseul.
The hussars rode up. M. de Choiseul ordered them to picket their horses, and caused rations of bread and wine to be served out to them.
The news which M. Goguelot brought was bad. All along his route, everybody had been in a state of expectation. The reports of the King’s flight, which had been disseminated about for more than a year, had spread from Paris to the provinces; and the sight of the different bodies of men arriving at Dun, Varennes, Clermont, and St. Menehould, had awakened suspicion. The tocsin had been sounded in a village by the side of the road.
M. de Choiseul had ordered dinner for M. de Goguelot and himself.
The two young men drew up to the table, leaving the detachment under the command of M. de Boudet.