Helen covered her face and sat and mused, till, at length, the wounded man woke her from her painful dreams, whatever they were, by saying, in a compassionate tone, "Ah! my poor girl, you suffer worse than I do, for your pains are of the heart."
"I will go, Sir, I will go!" cried Helen; "though it is very bitter so to do, yet I will go, if it can serve Mademoiselle d'Albret, even in the very least."
"It may serve her much, young lady," said Estoc. "As this sad affair has happened, and she has fallen into the hands of the Leaguers, beyond all doubt they will send her to Marzay; and then the old story will begin again, and no devilish scheme will be too bad, to drive her to marry Monsieur de Chazeul."
"Oh, no, no, no!" cried Helen, vehemently; "he will betray her--he will make her miserable, as he has made me. What right has he to marry her?" she continued, with her brow contracted and a wild look coming into her eyes. "Is he not married already? is he not contracted by oaths that he cannot break?"
"Ay, but he will break them," replied Estoc.
"I rave, I rave!" said Helen, after a moment's pause; "he has broken them already--every vow he made--every pledge he gave--every oath he took! and at what should he hesitate? But how can I prevent this? What can I do to avert it?"
"Much," answered the Commander. "Your uncle, Helen, has been one of the prime movers in all this. Without him they could do little; for he is a skilful and a scheming man, not moved by the same passions that both prompt and embarrass them. What are his motives or his views, I know not; but, pardie, right sure am I, when once he hears how you have been treated, he will find means to frustrate all their plots, and to save our dear Rose, by one means or another."
"Yes, yes, he will--he will," cried Helen; "I know he will, if it be but in revenge. Oh! he never wants means to work his own will. My poor father used to say, he had ruled all his family from infancy. But I will go at all risks, at any cost.--Yet," she added, hanging her head, "yet I could wish that it were possible for me to avoid that cruel and hard-hearted man, whom I must see if I go there openly."
"Oh! that will be easily managed," said Estoc; "I will answer for that, Mademoiselle; for I took care to ensure myself and my good Commander here, the means of entering the Château of Marzay when we liked. God forbid that I should use it wrongly! But I foresaw the time might come, when, in justice to ourselves or others, we might need to stand face to face with those who have been plotting so darkly against people whose rights they should have protected."
"You are right, Estoc, you are right," said the old Commander, whose voice was growing feeble, with the fatigue of speaking so much. "You are right, my good friend. I thought not of that precaution, but it was a wise one. Have you the key of the postern, then?"