“O, Monsieur le Marquis,” exclaimed the young officer, accompanying him, “are you sure that it is not much? Why, I can see the blood on your sleeve . . . and on your breast too! Take my arm, de grâce,—and you will let me turn out the guard at once, will you not?”
“That is unnecessary, my dear boy,” replied his leader; “so is your support. M. de Brencourt settled the Blue for me.—Good-night, Sans-Souci,” he said, as the sentry presented arms.
“But you will not find the Blue, La Vergne—he got away after all,” added the Comte quickly from behind. To him the duel was a secondary matter now—and, in itself, the Abbé’s success or failure also. What other information had the priest brought from Mirabel . . . and how soon would he divulge it? Would it be possible to see him before de Trélan did? Hardly . . .
“And where is M. Chassin?” enquired M. de Kersaint directly they got inside, when the light from the sconce on the wall instantly betrayed to Artamène’s distressed but ever observant eyes how pale he was—and with a smear of blood on his cheek too. “In my room?—then I will see him at once.”
“Let me light you up the staircase, Messieurs!” cried the zealous Artamène, taking down the sconce.
“Are not the stairs lighted as usual?” asked the Comte irritably. “Yes, of course they are. No, go to your bed, La Vergne, and don’t harass M. de Kersaint any more!”
“You forget, La Vergne is officer of the guard to-night,” said the Marquis with a little smile. “Goodnight, my boy. Don’t bother about that Blue. As for my arm, the Abbé will do anything further that is necessary.”
And he went off, followed by the Comte. Artamène looked after them, uttering wicked words below his breath; then he replaced the sconce, tiptoed into the “nursery,” and picked his way among the dozen or so slumbering forms there till he came to Lucien du Boisfossé’s pallet in a corner.
“Lucien, wake up!” he whispered, stooping over him and gently shaking him. “I want to tell you something!”
Astoundingly, Lucien opened his eyes at once. “Don’t blow into my ear like that, officer of the guard!” he returned. “And there’s no need to poke me so. I was awake. I have not been to sleep.”