ed at once, Dubois seized some papers, wrote on
them some words with an expression of sinister joy, then, having ordered
his carriage, drove to the Palais Royal.

Meanwhile the chevalier was led to the regent, and walked straight up to
him.

"How! you here, monsieur!" said the duke, trying to look surprised.

"Yes, monseigneur, a miracle has been worked in my favor by La
Jonquiere; he had prepared all for flight, he asked for me under
pretense of consulting me as to confessions; then, when we were alone,
he told me all and we escaped together and in safety."

"And instead of flying, monsieur, gaining the frontier, and placing
yourself in safety, you are here at the peril of your life."

"Monseigneur," said Gaston, blushing, "I must confess that for a moment
liberty seemed to me the most precious and the sweetest thing the world
could afford. The first breath of air I drew seemed to intoxicate me,
but I soon reflected."

"On one thing, monsieur?"

"On two, monseigneur."

"You thought of Helene, whom you were abandoning."

"And of my companions, whom I left under the ax."

"And then you decided?"

"That I was bound to their cause till our projects were accomplished."

"Our projects!"

"Yes, are they not yours as well as mine?"

"Listen, monsieur," said the regent; "I believe that man must keep
within the limits of his strength. There are things which God seems to
forbid him to execute; there are warnings which tell him to renounce
certain projects. I believe that it is sacrilege to despise these
warnings, to remain deaf to this voice; our projects have miscarried,
monsieur, let us think no more of them."

"On the contrary, monseigneur," said Gaston, sadly shaking his head,
"let us think of them more than ever."

"But you are furious, monsieur," said the regent, "to persist in an
undertaking which has now become so difficult that it is almost
madness."

"I think, monseigneur, of our friends arrested, tried, condemned; M.
d'Argenson told me so; of our friends who are destined to the scaffold,
and who can be saved only by the death of the regent; of our friends who
would say, if I were to leave France, that I purchased my safety by
their ruin, and that the gates of the Bastille were opened by my
revelations."

"Then, monsieur, to this point of honor you sacrifice everything, even
Helene?"

"Monseigneur, if they be still alive I must save them."

"But if they be dead?"

"Then it is another thing,"