"I was remembering that there was something I wanted to ask M. le Chevalier when he came to say good-bye to me before going to Jersey; but now when he comes to our house for that, he will find that I came away here first, so I cannot ask him."
Mme. de Chaulnes put down her knitting. "So he was going to say good-bye to you before leaving for Jersey, was he? He is a great friend of yours, then, this M. de la Vireville?"
"I like him very much," responded the Comte de Flavigny with precision.
"Well, what did you want to ask him? Perhaps I can tell you the answer."
"I wanted very much to know," said Anne slowly, "why he has two names?"
Mme. de Chaulnes raised her eyebrows. "Has he then two?"
"Oh yes," exclaimed the child. "At the meeting I heard them call him 'Monsieur Augustin,' and I wondered why, because I know it is not one of his noms de baptême."
Mlle. Angèle made a strange gesture with her little mittened hands. Mme. de Chaulnes frowned at her.
"That is quite simple, mon petit; at least, I think so," she said, looking down at Anne's upturned visage, rather flushed by the proximity of the fire. "'Monsieur Augustin' is a nom de guerre, and it is the name of one of the Chouan leaders—you know who the Chouans are, who fight for the King in Brittany? So that your M. de la Vireville and 'Monsieur Augustin' must be one and the same person. He is tall and dark, and has a scar on his cheek, has he not, M. le Chevalier?"
"Yes," said Anne. "Yes, there is a mark there. Oh, do you know him?"