“Zelie has spoken!” he said.
And, at once addressing Maxence,
“You, my dear friend,” he resumed, “you must run to the Hotel des Folies.”
“Is Lucienne worse?”
“No. Lucienne is getting on well enough. Zelie has spoken; but there is no certainty, that, after due reflection, she will not repent, and go and give the alarm. You will return, therefore, and you will not lose sight of her until I call for her in the morning. If she wishes to go out, you must prevent her.”
The commissary had understood the importance of the precaution.
“You must prevent her,” he added, “even by force; and I authorize you, if need be, to call upon the agent whom I have placed on duty, watching the Hotel des Folies, and to whom I am going to send word immediately.”
Maxence started off on a run.
“Poor fellow!” murmured Marius, “I know where your father is. What are we going to learn now?”
He had scarcely had time to communicate the information he had received from Mme. Cadelle, when the first of the commissary’s emissaries made his appearance.