"A courier."
"From whom?"
"M. le Duc d'Épernon."
"What does he want with me?"
"The king's service."
At that magic phrase, which it was impossible not to heed, Canolles, still grumbling, opened the door and went downstairs.
Pompée's snoring could be distinctly heard.
The courier had entered the inn, and was waiting below: Canolles joined him, and turned pale as he read Nanon's letter; for, as the reader will have guessed, the courier was Cauvignac himself, who, having started nearly ten hours after Canolles, was unable to overtake him before the second night, ride as hard as he might.
Cauvignac's answers to his questions left Canolles in no doubt as to the necessity of losing no time. He read the letter a second time, and the phrase, Your loving sister, Nanon, told him what had happened; that is to say, that Mademoiselle had cleared her skirts by passing him off as her brother.