CHAPTER XIV. THE CHIEF
He had not actually fainted, but the exertion of that long run hadrendered him partially unconscious. He knew now that he was safe, that hewas sitting in Blakeney's room, and that something hot and vivifying wasbeing poured down his throat.
"Percy, they have arrested her!" he said, panting, as soon as speechreturned to his paralysed tongue.
"All right. Don't talk now. Wait till you are better."
With infinite care and gentleness Blakeney arranged some cushions underArmand's head, turned the sofa towards the fire, and anon brought hisfriend a cup of hot coffee, which the latter drank with avidity.
He was really too exhausted to speak. He had contrived to tell Blakeney,and now Blakeney knew, so everything would be all right. The inevitablereaction was asserting itself; the muscles had relaxed, the nerves werenumbed, and Armand lay back on the sofa with eyes half closed, unable tomove, yet feeling his strength gradually returning to him, his vitalityasserting itself, all the feverish excitement of the past twenty-fourhours yielding at last to a calmer mood.
Through his half-closed eyes he could see his brother-in-law movingabout the room. Blakeney was fully dressed. In a sleepy kind of wayArmand wondered if he had been to bed at all; certainly his clothesset on him with their usual well-tailored perfection, and there was nosuggestion in his brisk step and alert movements that he had passed asleepless night.
Now he was standing by the open window. Armand, from where he lay, couldsee his broad shoulders sharply outlined against the grey backgroundof the hazy winter dawn. A wan light was just creeping up from theeast over the city; the noises of the streets below came distinctly toArmand's ear.
He roused himself with one vigorous effort from his lethargy, feelingquite ashamed of himself and of this breakdown of his nervous system.He looked with frank admiration on Sir Percy, who stood immovable andsilent by the window--a perfect tower of strength, serene and impassive,yet kindly in distress.
"Percy," said the young man, "I ran all the way from the top of the RueSt. Honore. I was only breathless. I am quite all right. May I tell youall about it?"
Without a word Blakeney closed the window and came across to the sofa;he sat down beside Armand, and to all outward appearances he was nothingnow but a kind and sympathetic listener to a friend's tale of woe. Nota line in his face or a look in his eyes betrayed the thoughts of theleader who had been thwarted at the outset of a dangerous enterprise, orof the man, accustomed to command, who had been so flagrantly disobeyed.
Armand, unconscious of all save of Jeanne and of her immediate need, putan eager hand on Percy's arm.
"Heron and his hell-hounds went back to her lodgings last night," hesaid, speaking as if he were still a little out of breath. "They hopedto get me, no doubt; not finding me there, they took her. Oh, my God!"
It was the first time that he had put the whole terrible circumstanceinto words, and it seemed to gain in reality by the recounting. Theagony of mind which he endured was almost unbearable; he hid his face inhis hands lest Percy should see how terribly he suffered.
"I knew that," said Blakeney quietly. Armand looked up in surprise.
"How? When did you know it?" he stammered.
"Last night when you left me. I went down to the Square du Roule. Iarrived there just too late."
"Percy!" exclaimed Armand, whose pale face had suddenly flushed scarlet,"you did that?--last night you--"
"Of course," interposed the other calmly; "had I not promised you tokeep watch over her? When I heard the news it was already too late tomake further inquiries, but when you arrived just now I was on the pointof starting out, in order to find out in what prison Mademoiselle Langeis being detained. I shall have to go soon, Armand, before the guard ischanged at the Temple and the Tuileries. This is the safest time, andGod knows we are all of us sufficiently compromised already."
The flush of shame deepened in St. Just's cheek. There had not been ahint of reproach in the voice of his chief, and the eyes which regardedhim now from beneath the half-closed lids showed nothing but lazybonhomie.
In a moment now Armand realised all the harm which his recklessnesshad done, was still doing to the work of the League. Every one of hisactions since his arrival in Paris two days ago had jeopardised a planor endangered a life: his friendship with de Batz, his connection withMademoiselle Lange, his visit to her yesterday afternoon, the repetitionof it this morning, culminating in that wild run through the streets ofParis, when at any moment a spy lurking round a corner might either havebarred his way, or, worse still, have followed him to Blakeney's door.Armand, without a thought of any one save of his beloved, might easilythis morning have brought an agent of the Committee of General Securityface to face with his chief.
"Percy," he murmured, "can you ever forgive me?"
"Pshaw, man!" retorted Blakeney lightly; "there is naught to forgive,only a great deal that should no longer be forgotten; your duty to theothers, for instance, your obedience, and your honour."
"I was mad, Percy. Oh! if you only could understand what she means tome!"
Blakeney laughed, his own light-hearted careless laugh, which so oftenbefore now had helped to hide what he really felt from the eyes of theindifferent, and even from those of his friends.
"No! no!" he said lightly, "we agreed last night, did we not? that inmatters of sentiment I am a cold-blooded fish. But will you at any rateconcede that I am a man of my word? Did I not pledge it last night thatMademoiselle Lange would be safe? I foresaw her arrest the moment Iheard your story. I hoped that I might reach her before that bruteHeron's return; unfortunately he forestalled me by less than half anhour. Mademoiselle Lange has been arrested, Armand; but why should younot trust me on that account? Have we not succeeded, I and the others,in worse cases than this one? They mean no harm to Jeanne Lange," headded emphatically; "I give you my word on that. They only want her asa decoy. It is you they want. You through her, and me through you. Ipledge you my honour that she will be safe. You must try and trust me,Armand. It is much to ask, I know, for you will have to trust me withwhat is most precious in the world to you; and you will have to obey meblindly, or I shall not be able to keep my word."
"What do you wish me to do?"
"Firstly, you must be outside Paris within the hour. Every minute thatyou spend inside the city now is full of danger--oh, no! not for you,"added Blakeney, checking with a good-humoured gesture Armand's words ofprotestation, "danger for the others--and for our scheme tomorrow."
"How can I go to St. Germain, Percy, knowing that she--"
"Is under my charge?" interposed the other calmly. "That should not beso very difficult. Come," he added, placing a kindly hand on the other'sshoulder, "you shall not find me such an inhuman monster after all. ButI must think of the others, you see, and of the child whom I have swornto save. But I won't send you as far as St. Germain. Go down to the roombelow and find a good bundle of rough clothes that will serve you as adisguise, for I imagine that you have lost those which you had on thelanding or the stairs of the house in the Square du Roule. In a tin boxwith the clothes downstairs you will find the packet of miscellaneouscertificates of safety. Take an appropriate one, and then start outimmediately for Villette. You understand?"
"Yes, yes!" said Armand eagerly. "You want me to join Ffoulkes andTony."
"Yes! You'll find them probably unloading coal by the canal. Try and getprivate speech with them as early as may be, and tell Tony to set out atonce for St. Germain, and to join Hastings there, instead of you, whilstyou take his place with Ffoulkes."
"Yes, I understand; but how will Tony reach St. Germain?"
"La, my good fellow," said Blakeney gaily, "you may safely trust Tony togo where I send him. Do you but do as I tell you, and leave him to lookafter himself. And now," he added, speaking more earnestly, "the sooneryou get out of Paris the better it will be for us all. As you see, I amonly sending you to La Villette, because it is not so far, but that Ican keep in personal touch with you.
Remain close to the gates for anhour after nightfall. I will contrive before they close to bring younews of Mademoiselle Lange."
Armand said no more. The sense of shame in him deepened with everyword spoken by his chief. He felt how untrustworthy he had been, howundeserving of the selfless devotion which Percy was showing him evennow. The words of gratitude died on his lips; he knew that they would beunwelcome. These Englishmen were so devoid of sentiment, he thought,and his brother-in-law, with all his unselfish and heroic deeds, was, hefelt, absolutely callous in matters of the heart.
But Armand was a noble-minded man, and with the true sporting instinctin him, despite the fact that he was a creature of nerves, highly strungand imaginative. He could give ungrudging admiration to his chief, evenwhilst giving himself up entirely to the sentiment for Jeanne.
He tried to imbue himself with the same spirit that actuated my LordTony and the other members of the League. How gladly would he havechaffed and made senseless schoolboy jokes like those which--in faceof their hazardous enterprise and the dangers which they all ran--hadhorrified him so much last night.
But somehow he knew that jokes from him would not ring true. How couldhe smile when his heart was brimming over with his love for Jeanne, andwith solicitude on her account? He felt that Percy was regarding himwith a kind of indulgent amusement; there was a look of suppressedmerriment in the depths of those lazy blue eyes.
So he braced up his nerves, trying his best to look cool andunconcerned, but he could not altogether hide from his friend theburning anxiety which was threatening to break his heart.
"I have given you my word, Armand," said Blakeney in answer to theunspoken prayer; "cannot you try and trust me--as the others do? Thenwith sudden transition he pointed to the map behind him.
"Remember the gate of Villette, and the corner by the towpath. JoinFfoulkes as soon as may be and send Tony on his way, and wait for newsof Mademoiselle Lange some time to-night."
"God bless you, Percy!" said Armand involuntarily. "Good-bye!"
"Good-bye, my dear fellow. Slip on your disguise as quickly as you can,and be out of the house in a quarter of an hour."
He accompanied Armand through the ante-room, and finally closed the dooron him. Then he went back to his room and walked up to the window, whichhe threw open to the humid morning air. Now that he was alone the lookof trouble on his face deepened to a dark, anxious frown, and ashe looked out across the river a sigh of bitter impatience anddisappointment escaped his lips.