“Oh, oh, oh!” exclaimed Raoul in three different tones. Clameran’s audacity confounded him.
“But what am I going to do?” he inquired after a moment’s silence.
“You will oblige me by remaining here and keeping quiet. I will send you a despatch if there is danger; and then you can decamp.”
As they parted at Raoul’s door, Clameran said:
“Now, remember. Stay here, and during my absence be very intimate at your devoted mother’s. Be the most dutiful of sons. Abuse me as much as you please to her; and, above all, don’t indulge in any folly; make no demands for money; keep your eyes open. Good-by. To-morrow evening I will be at Oloron talking with this new Clameran.”
XVIII
After leaving Valentine de la Verberie, Gaston underwent great peril and difficulty in effecting his escape.
But for the experienced and faithful Menoul, he never would have succeeded in embarking.
Having left his mother’s jewels with Valentine, his sole fortune consisted of not quite a thousand francs; and with this paltry sum in his pocket, the murderer of two men, a fugitive from justice, and with no prospect of earning a livelihood, he took passage for Valparaiso.