"Here, take my sword, Doland," said the brigand leader to one of his men. "Wipe it well, and go back for my hat and cloak, which I left among the bushes by the cross of St. Maur. Well, baron," he continued, turning to Bernard de Rohan, "I am afraid you have to regret the want of your armour: that was a bad blow on your head."
"No, it struck my shoulder," replied Bernard de Rohan, "where my buff coat is doubled. There is no great harm done."
"You had better keep behind," continued Corse de Leon, in a low voice. "I wished not to have displayed my men at all had it been possible to avoid it, but it could not be helped. However, you had better not show yourself with us. It may make mischief."
"But the lady," said Bernard de Rohan, "the lady: let me go and speak to her and set her free: I have no fear of being seen."
"Leave it to me, leave it to me," said the brigand. "You shall have opportunity enough to speak with her, and she shall know who is her deliverer. Will you not trust me after all this night's work?"
"Entirely," replied Bernard de Rohan; "but it is natural, when one aids a lady in scenes like these, to wish to speak with her, to sooth and tranquillize her."
"Especially when one loves her," replied the brigand, laughing. "But you shall speak with her in a moment, only keep back for the present."
Bernard de Rohan had neither the will nor the power to resist. The brigand, indeed, might well assume the tone of command, for at that moment there could be no successful opposition to his will; but, besides this consideration, there were other feelings in the bosom of the young cavalier which inclined him to yield at once.
Everything that he had seen was calculated to surprise and perplex him. The knowledge which his strange companion seemed to have of his history and circumstances; the state of active preparation in which he had found him, as if he had been aware, long before, of all that was about to occur, and had taken measures to meet every contingency; the interest which he had shown in an enterprise that seemed not to concern him at all, and the active and vehement opposition he had evinced to persons apparently engaged in the same trade of violence with himself, were all unaccountable to Bernard de Rohan; and he paused with some anxiety to see what would be the next act in the strange drama in which he himself was bearing a part.
While the brief conversation which I have narrated took place between the brigand and the young cavalier, the successful party had drawn closer and closer round their adversaries, and were busily disarming and tying them. This operation, being carried on with great dexterity and rapidity, had advanced considerably, when Leon again strode forward into the midst of them to give farther directions.