I was not in the mood to stand on a punctilio. My brain was kindled by Marie’s words, “Where is he?” Already I was searching for their meaning and finding what I wished. If I could see her, and learn the longed-for truth from her, I should go in good heart to my conflict with the duke.
“Go to your room,” said Bontet, whom my prospective largesse had persuaded to civility and almost to eagerness, “and wait. If madame and the duke go there, I’ll let you know. But you must risk meeting them.”
“I don’t mind about that,” said I; and, in truth, nothing could make my relations with the pair more hostile than they were already.
My business with Bontet was finished; but I indulged my curiosity for a moment.
“You have a good stable over there, I see,” I remarked. “How many horses have you there?”
The fellow turned very red: all signs of good humor vanished from his face; my bribe evidently gave me no right to question him on that subject.
“There are no horses there,” he grunted. “The horses are in the new stable facing the road. This one is disused.”
“Oh, I saw you come out from there, and I thought—”
“I keep some stores there,” he said sullenly.
“And that’s why it’s kept locked?” I asked at a venture.