“Unless I am laid by the heels,” I answered laughing, “I shall be at Rochelle shortly after you!”

CHAPTER V

A Traitor to the King

It was on the evening of the first day in August, 1568, that I rode into the village of Le Blanc.  All day long a pitiless sun had been beating down on the arid earth, with not one freshening breeze to temper the intense heat, and even now not a breath of air stirred so much as a solitary leaf on the trees.

My poor beast dragged wearily along, and his fatigue was scarcely greater than my own.

“Good old fellow!” I said, stroking his neck affectionately, “a few hundred yards more and we shall be at home.  Food and water, clean straw, and a shady place for you.  Ha, ha, old fellow, that makes you prick up your ears!”

We trailed along the sun-baked street; the door of every house was wide open; the villagers, men, women, and children sprawled listlessly in the coolest places, hardly raising their eyes at the beat of my horse’s hoofs.

But those who did glance up gazed at me curiously, and once or twice I heard a muttered, “’Tis Monsieur Edmond!” as if I were the last person they expected to see in my own home.  Their strange glances, half surprise, half pity, made me uncomfortable, and set me wondering whether any accident had happened.

However, I proceeded slowly as far as the inn, outside which half a dozen men had congregated, while old Pierre himself stood in the doorway.  They greeted me in wonder, and again I heard some one say, “’Tis Monsieur Edmond!”

“Well, my friends,” I exclaimed, with perhaps a suggestion of annoyance in my voice, “is there any reason why it should not be Monsieur Edmond?  Did you think me dead, or has the heat affected your brains?  Speak up, some of you!”

“Is monsieur going to the castle?” asked Pierre.

“Of course I am!” I answered half angrily.

“Perhaps monsieur will dismount and enter the inn.  Things have happened since monsieur went away.”

A great fear seized me, but, keeping my features under control, I slipped from the saddle, and, bidding the ostler take charge of the animal, followed Pierre into the one private room the inn contained.

“Now, Pierre,” I exclaimed, “tell me the story quickly, in as few words as possible.”

“First then, monsieur,” began the old man in his quavering voice, “it is useless going to the castle, as it is shut up.”

“The castle shut up!” I cried in astonishment.  “Well, go on with the story; it promises plenty of interest.”

“Shortly after your departure, monsieur, many rumours spread abroad.  Some said one thing, some mother; but no one knew the truth.  Then, one night, your father sent for me to the castle.  He ordered me to watch for your return, and to tell you he had gone to Rochelle.  Not another word, monsieur, except that you were to join him, and to keep out of the way of the king’s troops.”