"Who are you?" asked La Chatre, in a startled tone.
"It is I—Mlle. de Varion."
La Chatre promptly came to himself; but he looked somewhat confused, abashed, and irritated.
"Mlle. de Varion, indeed!" he said. "And why comes Mlle. de Varion here?"
And now Montignac spoke, fixing his eyes on La Chatre, and using a quiet but resolute tone:
"She comes too late. La Tournoire will be taken without her aid."
"Be silent, Montignac!" said La Chatre, assuming the authoritative for the sake of appearance. "It is true, mademoiselle; you are too late in fulfilling your part of the agreement."
He spoke with some embarrassment, and I began to see why. Inasmuch as he had been at Clochonne but little more than one day, no more time had passed than would have been necessary for the arrangement of the ambush. Therefore it could not be honestly held that she had been tardy in fulfilling her mission; that is to say, when he told her that she was too late, he lied. Hence his embarrassment, for he was a gentleman. Now why did he put forth this false pretext of tardiness on her part?
"Too late in fulfilling your part of the agreement," said the governor.
"I came, monsieur," said mademoiselle, heedless of the lie and the apparent attempt to put her at fault, "to be released from my agreement."