“I am glad of it, Louis. We risked all together—we shall now suffer together. I am glad of it!”
Danville looked incredulously at Lomaque, after the first shock of astonishment was over.
“Impossible!” he exclaimed. “I never denounced my wife. There is some mistake; you have exceeded your orders.”
“Silence!” retorted Lomaque, imperiously. “Silence, citizen, and respect to a decree of the Republic!”
“You blackguard! show me the arrest-order!” said Danville. “Who has dared to denounce my wife?”
“You have!” said Lomaque, turning on him with a grin of contempt. “You—and ‘blackguard’ back in your teeth! You, in denouncing her brother! Aha! we work hard in our office; we don’t waste time in calling names—we make discoveries. If Trudaine is guilty, your wife is implicated in his guilt. We know it; and we arrest her.”
“I resist the arrest,” cried Danville. “I am the authority here. Who opposes me?”
The impassible chief agent made no answer. Some new noise in the street struck his quick ear. He ran to the window and looked out eagerly.
“Who opposes me?” reiterated Danville.
“Hark!” exclaimed Lomaque, raising his hand. “Silence, and listen!”