t was attempted,
quickly dismissed by a peremptory order from the official. The doubtful
passport was obviously put on one side for further examination, and the
unfortunate owner thereof detained, until he or she had been able
to give more satisfactory references to the representatives of the
Committee of Public Safety, stationed at Boulogne.

This process of examination necessarily took a long time. Marguerite
was getting horribly tired, her feet ached and she scarcely could hold
herself upright: yet she watched all these people mechanically, making
absurd little guesses in her weary mind as to whose passport would find
favour in the eyes of the official, and whose would be found suspect and
inadequate.

Suspect! a terrible word these times! since Merlin's terrible law
decreed now that every man, woman or child, who was suspected by the
Republic of being a traitor was a traitor in fact.

How sorry she felt for those whose passports were detained: who tried
to argue--so needlessly!--and who were finally led off by a soldier,
who had stepped out from somewhere in the dark, and had to await further
examination, probably imprisonment and often death.

As to herself, she felt quite safe: the passport given to her by
Chauvelin's own accomplice was sure to be quite en regle.

Then suddenly her heart seemed to give a sudden leap and then to stop in
its beating for a second or two. In one of the passengers, a man who
was just passing in front of the tent, she had recognized the form and
profile of Chauvelin.

He had no passport to show, but evidently the official knew who he
was, for he stood up and saluted, and listened deferentially whilst
the ex-ambassador apparently gave him a few instructions. It seemed to
Marguerite that these instructions related to two women who were close
behind Chauvelin at the time, and who presently seemed to file past
without going through the usual formalities of showing their passports.
But of this she could not be quite sure. The women were closely hooded
and veiled and her own attention had been completely absorbed by this
sudden appearance of her deadly enemy.

Yet what more natural than that Chauvelin should be here now? His object
accomplished, he had no doubt posted to Dover, just as she had done.
There was no difficulty in that, and a man of his type and importance
would always have unlimited means and money at his command to accomplish
any journey he might desire to undertake.