"I have come to ask you, monsieur, if you still remember me."
Canolles heaved a heart-breaking sigh, and put his hands before his eyes, seeking to banish the ravishing but fatal apparition.
Everything was made clear to him in an instant; Nanon's alarm, her pallor, her trembling, and, above all, her desire to be present at the interview. Nanon, with the keen eyes of jealousy, had detected a woman in the flag of truce.
"I have come to ask you," continued Claire, "if you are ready to carry out the engagement you entered into with me in the little room at Jaulnay,—to send your resignation to the queen, and enter the service of the princes."
"Oh! silence! silence!" cried Canolles.
Claire shuddered at the accent of utter dismay in the commandant's voice, and glanced uneasily about the room.
"Are we not alone here?" she asked.
"We are, madame; but may not some one hear us through the walls?"
"I thought that the walls of Fort Saint-Georges were more solid than that," said Claire with a smile.
Canolles made no reply.