At the same instant the marquis's four men, disregarding his orders to await a summons from him, rode up at full speed, with Adamas, in whom the report of the pistol and the sight of the flying horse had aroused the keenest anxiety.
"Ah! here you are," said the marquis. "Very good; pick up yonder unhorsed cavalier; he belongs to me, as I have the droit d'épave[22] on this road. He is my prisoner. Bind him; there is reason to distrust his hands."
[22]That is to say, the right of the lord of the manor to claim all property found on his domain, to which nobody can prove title.
[XXXI]
While the colossal charioteer, Aristandre, bound Sancho's hands—he was still dazed by his fall—and stripped him of his arms, D'Alvimar emerged at last from the stupor caused by this swiftly enacted scene.
For an instant he had thought of abandoning his ill-omened confederate to Bois-Doré's wrath; but when he saw him treated so roughly because he had once more risked his life for him, a remnant of pride and shame compelled him to remonstrate.
"I can understand, messire," he said, "that you are angered by the stupidity of that old man, who was asleep in his saddle, and being awakened by a sudden shock, thought that he was attacked by a band of robbers. He certainly deserves punishment, but not to be treated as a prisoner within your seignioral jurisdiction; for he belongs to me, and it is my prerogative and mine alone to punish him for the insult he offered you."
"Do you call that an insult, Monsieur de Villareal?" retorted the marquis in a tone of contempt. "But it is not with you that I have to deal, but with my friend and kinsman Guillaume d'Ars."
"I will permit no explanation," rejoined D'Alvimar with feigned passion, "until my servant is restored to me, and if you desire a duel——"
"Listen to me, Guillaume," said Bois-Doré.