“Hang him, or send him to the galleys,� he retorted calmly.
She reeled, catching at the back of a chair to save herself from falling. M. de Baudri sprang toward her to proffer his assistance, but she motioned him away with a gesture of horror.
“Do not touch me!� she cried; “do not touch me!�
She laid her head down on the back of the chair, overcome with contending emotions. The two she loved best in the world had been taken from her.
“Mon Dieu!� she cried in a choking voice; “what shall I do?�
The fiercest passions leaped up into M. de Baudri’s eyes,—anger, jealousy, the desire for revenge; he had suspected that there was some secret between François and Rosaline, and now he doubted it no longer.
“Mademoiselle is more afflicted at the capture of a menial than at the arrest of her own grandmother,� he remarked with a sneer. “Doubtless she would like to arrange for his liberation also.�
Rosaline made no reply; she was summoning all her powers to meet this terrible emergency.
“Even that is not beyond my power,� M. de Baudri added coolly, “if mademoiselle desires to purchase this—servant’s—liberty.�
Rosaline looked up with a haggard face, but her eyes sparkled with anger.