“How? Easily. All the guerrilla bands–except one, which I escaped–are concentrated either here or with Diaz.”
“And Marquez let you come, you who are so important to him now?”
“As though he could help it, parbleu! My message to Napoleon was in my own cipher, and after he had sent it by a scout to Vera Cruz, I informed him that in it I had directed Napoleon to send his answer to me at Querétaro. Otherwise Marquez would have kept me in prison rather than let me go. But as it was, he assisted me through the Republican lines by a secret way he has arranged for his own escape, if need be. So––”
“But why did you wish to come at all?”
“Ma foi, as if I knew! A matter of conscience, I suppose.”
“Matters of conscience are usually riddles.”
“Like this one? Bien, I am still trying to get Your Highness to leave the country. But this time, sire, it is to save you.”
“To save me?”
“Of course, on account of France.”
“Oh, on account of France?”