"It is true."
"Tiens! A pity. A thousand pities! Above all, that you should have encountered that she-devil. Well, I am glad you had those hard words with her. Ma foi! she is a tigress! I only hope you may escape from—from other things—as you did from her dagger."
The commandant—who was also the colonel of the Régiment de Grancé—was, however, a different style of man from his lieutenant—a man who from long service in the army had become rough and harsh; also, like many men commanding regiments under Louis, he had risen solely by his military qualifications, and owed nothing to birth or influence.
He listened, however, very attentively to all De Mortemart told him of the scene that had taken place, and especially as to how the Baronne de Louvigny—to whom he himself was paying court, as has been told—had evidently had some lover whose existence he had never suspected; and then he sent for St. Georges, who was brought into his presence by De Mortemart himself.
"So," he said, "you are an escaped galérien, monsieur. Well! You know what happens to them when retaken!"
"I know."
"What was your crime?"
"Nothing—except serving the king as a soldier."
"As a soldier!" he and De Mortemart exclaimed together, while the former continued, "In what capacity?"
"As lieutenant in the Chévaux-Légers of Nivernois."