“She asked him had he any plan, and he replied that he had not and that it was impossible to make any plan till he reached Noumea and studied the place and its possibilities.
“Well, there was the position the woman found herself in, and a nice position it was. Think of it, married only a short time and now condemned to help a prisoner to escape from New Caledonia, for, though she could easily have refused, she felt compelled to the business both for the sake of her husband and the sake of his brother, an innocent man wrongfully convicted.
“She agreed to help in the attempt like the high spirited woman she was, and a few days later they raised the New Caledonia reef and the Noumea lighthouse that marks the entrance to the harbour.
“Madame Duplessis had a big acquaintance in Paris, especially among the political and military people, and no sooner had the yacht berthed than the Governor and chief people who knew her name, began to show their attentions, tumbling over themselves with invitations to dinners and parties.
“That, again, was a nice position for her, having to accept the hospitality of the people she had come to betray, so to speak, but she had to do it: it was the only way to help her husband along in his scheme, and leaving the yacht, she took up her residence in a house she rented on the sea road; you may have seen it, a big white place with green verandahs, and there she and her husband spent their time whilst the yacht was being overhauled.
“They gave dinners and parties and went to picnics; they regularly laid themselves out to please, and then, one night, Armand came to his wife and said that he had been studying all means of escape from Noumea, and he had found only one. He would not say what it was, and she was content not to poke into the business, leaving him to do the plotting and planning till the time came when she could help.
“Armand said that before he could do anything in the affair he must first have an interview with Charles. They were hand in glove with the Governor, and it was easy enough to ask to see a prisoner, but the bother was the name of Duplessis, for Charles had been convicted and exported under that name. The Governor had never noticed Charles, and the name of Duplessis was in the prison books and forgotten. It would mean raking the whole business up and claiming connection with a convict, still it had to be done.
“Next day Armand called at the Governor’s house and had an interview. He told the Governor that a relation named Charles Duplessis was amongst the convicts and that he very much wanted to have an interview with him.
“Now the laws at that time were very strict, and the Governor, though pretty lax in some things as I’ve said, found himself up against a stiff proposition, and that proposition was how to tell Armand there was nothing doing.
“‘I am sorry,’ said the Governor, ‘but what you ask is impossible, Monsieur Duplessis; a year ago it would have been easy enough, but since the escape of Benonini and that Englishman Travers, the orders from Paris have forbidden visitors: any message you would like me to send to your relation shall be sent, but an interview—no.’