“What were you saying, Bob?” she asked, smiling at her son, from whom she could hardly take her eyes.
Bob told his plan without delay, and Mrs. Gordon, paling a little, listened in silence until he had finished. She no longer felt as she would have a few months ago at hearing such a proposal. She had endured so much, and had seen such terrific obstacles overcome by skill and daring, that she hesitated to call any feat impossible. It was dreadful to her to think of Lucy’s share in such a desperate venture, but no more dreadful than what she was bearing every day in the knowledge of her captivity.
“What can I say?” she asked, her voice shaking a little. “It seems a mad attempt, but if there is a good chance——” She turned to the Frenchman, fancying that his willingness to help Bob outran his confidence of success. “Would you have proposed this yourself, Captain Jourdin?” she said earnestly. “You have had more experience than Bob—does it seem too foolhardy to you?”
Jourdin considered a moment, his fine, candid face grave and thoughtful. “We have first of all to make known our coming to Mademoiselle,” he said at last. “Successful in that I shall be eager to go on. If the firing is heavy we must come back without her, that is all.”
Captain Harding stirred in his chair, frowning as he inquired doubtfully, “How about the old man? I can’t see him allowing his squadron to go off like that on private business.”
Major Kitteredge, thus referred to, did seem a stumbling-block, and for a moment Bob could find no reply. “Oh, well, he can only refuse,” he said finally. “I’ll ask him. He’s coming to see me to-morrow.”
“Anyway, Mrs. Gordon, it is a very indefinite plan yet,” said Captain Harding, thinking Bob’s mother had endured enough anxiety for one day. “Nothing can be settled until Bob is well, and you know how many things may happen before then. Château-Plessis may even be retaken.”
Here the conversation ended, for so many uncertainties entered into the project it was hard to talk it over. Mrs. Gordon had only that day to remain with Bob, and the other two officers rose to leave her alone with him.
Early on the following day Mrs. Gordon returned to her duty, and, soon afterward, Bob had his conversation with Major Kitteredge.