De Proballe, thinking naturally of himself, was disposed to regret the part he had taken. With the doors of Malincourt shut against him he saw the plans for his own future advancement in danger of collapse. He had meant to climb on Gabrielle’s favour with the Duke to greater things. For this reason he had welcomed the change of plan which was to make her the Duke’s wife, and had thrown himself readily into the attempts to ruin Gerard in her eyes. But if he was to be deprived of the prestige which the Malincourt influence afforded, he would be left dependent only on his own wits and the Duke’s favour; and what a shifting sand the latter was, he knew only too well.
But the Governor was scarcely less furious than Gabrielle herself, and never being inclined to blame himself laid the whole fault upon de Proballe.
Gabrielle’s fierce resentment had shown the mistake of attacking Gerard in her presence; and the fact that he himself had given the orders only heightened his rage against de Proballe. He left the latter no reason to misunderstand his attitude.
“I am to be an outcast, it seems, because of this,” said de Proballe, in as nonchalant an air as he could assume.
“When a man blunders as you have he has no cause to quarrel with the consequences,” was the blunt reply.
“As for that, I am too old a hand to quarrel when the luck’s against me. But what blunder do you mean?”
“Everything you have done.”
“Umph! I might have expected it,” exclaimed de Proballe, with a sharp glance at the Governor’s angry face.
“It was your plan. Had I not listened to you, matters would have gone very differently. When you learnt that the man was another than this Gerard de Cobalt, you should have given me the information privately and have left me to act. But you must needs meddle in it your own way—and this is the result.”
“Did I know you would bring Gabrielle down to listen to it all? The mischief is that the man was arrested before her eyes. All women are hysterical fools at such times. But at least it was not I who ordered your men to attack him.”