"Yes," said I, "that is a different key, which I left in place of the right one so that you might not discover the loan too soon."
He gazed at me with a mixture of fury and surprise, as at an antagonist whose capacity he must have previously underrated.
"By the horns of Satan," he exclaimed, "you are the boldest of meddling imps."
"I have meddled to good purpose," said I, "though my meddling has not turned out as I planned. But it has turned out so as to bring you peace of mind, at least in one respect."
"What are you talking of?"
"You see that I possessed myself of that key; that I fought my way to the prison of the Countess; that I threw open her prison door."
"And believe me, you shall pay for your ingenuity and daring, my brave youth."
"All that was but the beginning of what I was resolved and able to do. I had prepared our way of escape from the chateau."
"I am not sure of that."
"You may laugh with your lips, Count, but I laugh at you in my heart. Don't think Monsieur de Pepicot is the only man who can get out of the Chateau de Lavardin."