“The King has a secret passage whose door is in the arras two chambers down the long corridor farther on.”
“Young Carrbroke told you so?”
“Yes.”
“Bah! But it would be a secret way known only to himself, of no avail to us. It could not be found. Once the relic is in our hands, a silken rope and some window must be our way.”
“But I know the secret of the passage, sir, how to open the door, and where the passage leads.”
“Where, boy, where?” cried Leoni excitedly.
“Down to the grounds, and then by a long winding alley through the private gardens to the riverside.”
“Hist!” whispered Leoni. “No more, boy, for your words have seemed to burn. Ah, it is strange! The workings too of fate. What I have striven for in vain has come to you without seeking, without thought. It is fate, boy, fate. The spirit of our great nation is working on our behalf, and has made you the chosen instrument of our success. We must, we shall succeed, and through you. Now silence; not another word but these. I say silence, Denis. It is for our master’s sake and for la France.”