The calotte was well named, for it was a skullcap indeed. In the centre there was room to stand upright, but the roof sloped on either hand until at the walls it was scarce two feet from the floor. A bench, a chair, and a rickety stove clamped to the wall comprised the furniture.
I threw myself upon the bench, when a sudden thought brought me to my feet as by a spring. For this was the night upon which Richelieu was to meet Mlle. de Valois. That he should fail to do so would be monstrous. Escape, then, was necessary,—escape, not to-morrow or next week, but at once, to-day, within six or eight hours at the uttermost. I groaned aloud. How to escape from this infernal hole? I sprang to the window and tried the bars. They were cemented fast into the masonry. The strength of the door I already knew, and I ran over in my mind the barred gates and raised drawbridges we must pass before we should be without the walls. I gazed out through the bars at the broad country, bright under the rays of the sun, and cursed the chance that had thrown us here, upon this day of all days. I heard the regular step of the sentry in the corridor, as much a prisoner as ourselves until the watch was changed. It came nearer, paused before my door, and then retreated. All was still.
Suddenly I heard a faint tapping as of some one endeavoring to signal me. I looked around trying to locate the sound. I approached the corner from which it seemed to come. It grew louder. I dropped to my knees and crawled yet nearer the wall.
“De Brancas,” I heard a voice call, seemingly a great way off. “De Brancas, are you there?”
“Yes, yes,” I panted. “But where are you, monsieur?” for I could not believe that a human voice could penetrate these walls of stone.
“In the cell below yours, as you know,” replied the voice. “Do you know we must escape to-night?”
“Yes, yes,” I answered again, still more astonished that I could hear his voice so clearly. “The tryst at the dryad fountain.”
“You are a jewel, de Brancas!” cried the duke. “Yes, we must escape and at once. There is no time to lose.”
“But to escape,” I said, “it is necessary to pass through seven barred gates and across three raised drawbridges. That is no easy thing. Have you a plan, monsieur?”
“A plan? No. But let me come to you and we will find a plan.”