Whereupon two of the imperturbable lackeys, who had held their torches throughout this exciting scene without moving a muscle, hastened off to execute their master’s orders.  Some of his own servants now came forward, raised up the unconscious Duke of Vallombreuse with every possible care and precaution, and by his father’s command carried him to his own room and laid him on his own bed, the aged prince following, with a face from which grief and anxiety had already driven away all traces of anger.  He saw his race extinct in the death of this son, whom he so dearly loved—­despite his fault—­and whose vices he forgot for the moment, remembering only his brilliant and lovable qualities.  A profound melancholy took complete possession of him, as he stood for a few moments plunged in a sorrowful reverie that everybody respected.

Isabelle, entirely revived, and no longer feeling at all faint, bad risen to her feet, and now stood between de Sigognac and the tyrant, adjusting, with a trembling hand, her disordered dress and dishevelled hair.  Lampourde and Scapin had retired to a little distance from them, and held themselves modestly aloof, whilst the men within, still bound hand and foot, kept as quiet as possible; fearful of their fate if brought to the prince’s notice.  At length that aged nobleman returned, and breaking the terrible silence that had weighed upon all, said, in severe tones, “Let all those who placed their services at the disposition of the Duke of Vallombreuse, to aid him in indulging his evil passions and committing a terrible crime, quit this chateau instantly.  I will refrain from placing you in the hands of the public executioner, though you richly deserve it.  Go now! vanish! get ye back to your lairs! and rest assured that justice will not fail to overtake you at last.”

These words were not complimentary, but the trembling offenders were thankful to get off so easily, and the ruffians, whom Lampourde and Scapin had unbound, followed Malartic down the stairs in silence, without daring to claim their promised reward.  When they had disappeared, the prince advanced and took Isabelle by the hand, and gently detaching her from the group of which she had formed a part, led her over to where he had been standing, and kept her beside him.

“Stay here, mademoiselle,” he said; “your place is henceforth by my side.  It is the least that you can do to fulfil your duty as my daughter, since you are the innocent means of depriving me of my son.”  And he wiped away a tear, that, despite all his efforts to control his grief, rolled down his withered cheek.  Then turning to de Sigognac, he said, with an incomparably noble gesture, “Sir, you are at liberty to withdraw, with your brave companions.  Isabelle will have nothing to fear under her father’s protection, and this chateau will be her home for the present.  Now that her birth is made known it is not fitting that my daughter should return to Paris with you.  I thank you, though it costs