"I cannot tell, but there are no soldiers below, which is not a bad sign."
I knew my way by now, and followed my gaoler briskly down the staircase to the chamber. The four councillors were there, standing together, and near them was Condé himself.
"Well, M. de Lalande, did you expect to see me again?" he asked.
"I hoped to do so, your Highness."
"Then you do not fear my discoveries? Well, I have inquired into your story, and am inclined to believe you spoke the truth. For one thing, M. Peleton has disappeared."
"Then he has received a warning, your Highness."
"That is possible, as he may know too much. Still, without his evidence I cannot probe to the bottom of this affair. Now I am going to make you a proposal. If I set you at liberty, will you find this M. Peleton and bring him to me? His arrest is necessary, you understand, in order to clear your own character."
"Then I shall be the more anxious to discover him, your Highness."
"Very well; and remember, it must be done without noise or fuss, by yourself and your friends. If my fresh suspicions are correct, he has powerful patrons whom I have no desire to ruffle for the present. So it must be your private affair, and you take all the risks."
"I will do that willingly."