“Then you are to be my protector, in place of the commander, who retires; is that so?”
“No, my superior is the adjutant-major Gerard, who has sent me here.”
“Your commandant must be very much afraid of me,” she said.
“Beg pardon, mademoiselle, Hulot is afraid of nothing. But women, you see, are not in his line; it ruffled him to have a general in a mob-cap.”
“And yet,” continued Mademoiselle de Verneuil, “it was his duty to obey his superiors. I like subordination, and I warn you that I shall allow no one to disobey me.”
“That would be difficult,” replied Merle, gallantly.
“Let us consult,” said Mademoiselle de Verneuil. “You can get fresh troops here and accompany me to Mayenne, which I must reach this evening. Shall we find other soldiers there, so that I might go on at once, without stopping at Mayenne? The Chouans are quite ignorant of our little expedition. If we travel at night, we can avoid meeting any number of them, and so escape an attack. Do you think this feasible?”
“Yes, mademoiselle.”
“What sort of road is it between Mayenne and Fougeres?”
“Rough; all up and down, a regular squirrel-wheel.”