"Ah! For what reason?"
"It is a general precaution, sir."
"In that case I will not press it: at least, you are permitted to tell me at whose request my liberty was granted me?"
"I see no objection to that, sir—it was at the request of the Duc de Bellegarde."
"The dear Duke!—a real friend!" the Count cried, in great emotion.
The Major, with the utmost coolness, handed him a pen, and pointed to a blank space in the register.
"Will you be kind enough, sir, to sign this register?"
The Count hurriedly perused it, and saw that it was a species of certificate of the honourable way he had been treated during the period of his detention. He signed.
"Now, sir, as I am free, for I presume I am so—" "Free as a bird, my lord."
"In that case I can retire. I know not why, but during the last instant these thick, gloomy walls, seem to stifle me, and I shall not breathe at my ease till I feel myself in the open air."