The stranger said the lady was perfectly free, and that her wishes were orders. He said that her safety and that of her guide, as well as of Karl, demanded that she should oppose no difficulty to the selection of her route and her asylum. Karl added, with an air of naïf reproof, that this distrust seemed to mortify the Chevalier very much, and that he had become sad and melancholy.
The whole day passed without any incident. Shut up in the carriage as close as if she were a prisoner of state, Consuelo could form no idea about the direction she travelled. She changed her clothes with great satisfaction, for she saw with disgust several drops of Mayer's black blood on her dress. She sought to read, but her mind was too busy. She determined to sleep as soon as possible, hoping in this manner to forget the sooner the mortification of her last adventure. He evidently had not forgotten it, and his respectful delicacy made Consuelo yet more ridiculous and guilty in her own opinion. At the same time she was distressed at the inconvenience and fatigue which he bore in a seat too narrow for two persons, side by side with a great soldier disguised as a servant, comme il faut certainly, but whose tedious and dull conversation must necessarily be annoying to him. Besides, he was exposed to the fresh air of the night, and was deprived of sleep. This courage might be presumption. Did he think himself irresistible? Did he think that Consuelo, recovered from the first surprise, would not resist his by far too paternal familiarity?
The poor girl said all this to console her downcast pride. It is very certain that she desired to see the Chevalier, and feared above all things his disdain at the triumphs of an excess of virtue which would have rendered them strangers to each other forever.
About midnight they halted in a ravine. The weather was bad, and the noise of the wind in the foliage was like running water. "Signora," said Karl, opening the door, "we are now come to the most inconvenient portion of our journey. We must pass the frontier. With money and boldness it is possible to do anything. Yet it would not be prudent to attempt to do so on the highroad, and under the eyes of the police. I am no one, and risk nothing. I will drive the carriage slowly with a single horse, as if I took a new purchase of my master to a neighboring estate. You will take a cross-road with the Chevalier, and may find the pathway difficult. Can you walk a league over a bad road?"
Consuelo having said yes, the Chevalier gave her his arm. "If you reach the place of rendezvous before me, signora," said Karl, "you will wait for me, and will not be afraid."
"I am afraid of nothing," said Consuelo with a tone of mingled tenderness and pride, "for this gentleman protects me. But, Karl, do you run no risk?"
Karl shrugged his shoulders, and kissed Consuelo's hand. He then began to fix his horse, and our heroine set out across the country with her silent protector.
[CHAPTER XXII]
The weather became worse and worse. The wind began to blow more violently, and our two fugitives walked for about half an hour, sometimes across the briars, and then across the tall grass. At last the rain became violent. Consuelo, as yet, had not said a word to her companion, but seeing him uneasy about her, and looking for a shelter, she said, "Do not be afraid on my account, Monsieur. I am strong, and only suffer from seeing you exposed to such fatigue and care for a person who is nothing to you, and for whom you do not care."