Babette did as she was bidden, muttering something, and de Gomeron, advancing a pace, addressed me—
'Monsieur, I have come to make you an offer, and I will not waste words. I am playing to win a desperate game, and I shall not hesitate to play any card to win. My offer is this. I ask you to sign a formal document, which I shall bring to you, holding me guiltless of any design against either you or Madame de la Bidache. In return I will set you free in ten days after you sign this paper. During that time you must consider yourself my prisoner; but you will be better lodged than now. Should you refuse to accept this offer, there is nothing left for me but to leave you here to die.'
He spoke in slow, measured accents, and the vault of the roof above me gave back the man's words in a solemn echo. The light of the lantern stretched in a long yellow shaft up the spiral stairway beyond the door, and, half in this light and half in shadow, stood the witch-like figure of Babette, leaning a little forward as if striving to catch each word that was spoken.
In the silence that followed the free-lance's speech I could almost hear the blood throbbing in my temples; and for the moment I was deprived of all power of words. It was not from fear, nor from any idea of accepting the offer, but a thought had come to my mind. I would oppose craft with craft, and meet the fox in the skin of a fox.
'Give me twenty-four hours to decide,' I answered, 'and free me from these cords. I cannot think for the pain of them.'
'Pardieu!' he laughed. 'The knots have been well tied; but twenty-four hours is a long time.'
'Yet you are willing to accommodate me for ten days, better lodged. Ventrebleu! M. de Gomeron! Do you think I can scratch my way out of this?'
He did not answer me, but stood for a while biting at the ends of his thick moustache. Then he suddenly called to Babette, 'Cut the cords.'
She came forward and obeyed. Words cannot convey the sensation of relief as the cords fell from me, but for the time being so numbed was I that I was powerless to move.
'You have your desire, monsieur,' said de Gomeron, 'and I await your decision. It will save me trouble if you inform Babette whether you agree or not. In the former event we shall have the pleasure of meeting again; in the latter case I take the opportunity of wishing you as happy a time as a man may have—in the future life. In the meantime I will see that some refreshments are sent to you. Adieu!'