"You must give me fair notice, Uncle Joseph," he said. "Police or no police, I do not go without wishing her good-bye."
Everything came at once, as fate would have it. It was after dark, a wild, windy evening, stars looking through the hurrying clouds, no moonrise till early morning. With every precaution, Monsieur Joseph now allowed his nephew to dine in the dining-room, taking care to place him where he could not be seen from outside when Gigot came in through the shutters from the kitchen. Angelot had now been kept in hiding for ten days, and the police seemed to have disappeared from the woods, so that Monsieur Joseph's mind was easier.
Suddenly, as they sat at dinner that evening, all the dogs began to bark.
"Go into your den!" said the little uncle, starting up.
"No, dear uncle, this game pie is too good," Angelot said coolly. "I heard a horse coming down the lane. It is Monsieur d'Ombré's messenger."
"If it is—very true, you had better eat your dinner," said his uncle.
And to be sure, in a few minutes, Gigot came in with a letter, Angelot's marching orders. At five o'clock the next morning César d'Ombré would wait for him at the Étang des Morts, a lonely, legend-haunted pool in the woods where four roads met, about two leagues beyond the landes by way of La Joubardière.
"Very well; you will start at three o'clock," said Monsieur Joseph. "Give the man something to eat and send him back, Gigot, to meet his master."
"Three o'clock! I shall be asleep!" said Angelot. "Surely an hour will be enough to take me to the Étang des Morts—a cheerful rendezvous!"
He laughed and looked at Riette. She was very pale and grave, her dark eyes wide open.