“And you imagine that you will be able to get them to agree to condemn her?”
“It doesn’t matter whether they agree or whether they don’t; the result will be the same. Beaumagnan demands it. How can we refuse?” said the Baron.
“That man will be the ruin of us,” affirmed Bennetot.
The Baron d’Etigues shrugged his shoulders and protested:
“We need a man like him to struggle against a woman like her. Is everything ready?”
“Yes. The two boats are on the beach at the bottom of the priests’ staircase. The smaller is scuttled and will sink ten minutes after it is set afloat.”
“You have put a stone in it?” asked the Baron.
“Yes, a good-sized boulder with a hole in it, through which you can run the rope.”
They were silent, casting uneasy glances at the door of the chamber.
Not one of the words they had spoken had escaped the keen ears of Ralph d’Andresy and not one of them had failed to put a keener edge on his already keen curiosity.