“Monsieur le Curé is here,” he heard her say. “Will you walk in?” And then, at some remark in the doctor's voice which he did not catch: “No; he is not busy. I was just going to take his letters to the postoffice. He heard Monsieur Dupont call.”
And then, as the two men stepped in through the doorway, Raymond spoke quietly:
“Good morning, Monsieur Dupont! Good morning, Doctor Arnaud!”
“Hah! Monsieur le Curé!” Monsieur Dupont wagged his head vigorously. “He is in a very pretty temper this morning, our friend in there—eh? Yes, very pretty! You have noticed it? Yes, you have noticed it. It would seem that he is beginning to realise at last that his little tricks are going to do him no good!”
Raymond waved his hand toward chairs.
“You will sit down?” he invited courteously.
“No”—Doctor Arnaud smiled, as he answered for them both. “No, not this morning, Monsieur le Curé. We are returning at once to Tournayville. I have an important case there, and Monsieur Dupont has promised to have me back before noon.”
“Yes,” said Monsieur Dupont, “we stopped only to tell you”—Monsieur Dupont jerked his hand in the direction of the rear room—“that we will take him away to-morrow morning. Doctor Arnaud says he will be quite able to go. We will see what the taste of a day in jail will do for him before he goes into the dock—what? He is very fortunate! Yes, very! There are not many who have only one day in jail before they are tried! Yes! To-morrow morning! You look surprised, Monsieur le Curé, that it should be so soon. Yes, you look surprised!”
“On the contrary,” observed Raymond impassively, “when I saw you drive up a few minutes ago, I thought you had come to take him away at once.”
“But, not at all!” Monsieur Dupont indulged in a significant smile. “No—not at all! I take not even that chance of cheating the court out of his appearance—I do not wish to house him for months until the next assizes. I take no chances on a relapse. He has been quite safe here. Yes—quite! He will be quite safe for another twenty-four hours in your excellent keeping, Monsieur le Curé—since he is still too weak to run far enough to have it do him any good!”