At first he hesitated to believe me,
but when at last I had convinced him by the vehemence of my
assurances as much as by the assurances themselves, he expressed
such opinions of the Comte de Chatellerault as made my heart go out
to him.
"You see, my dear Castelroux, that you are now my last hope," I said.
"A forlorn one, my poor gentleman!" he groaned.
"Nay, that need not be. My intendant Rodenard and some twenty of
my servants should be somewhere betwixt this and Paris. Let them
be sought for monsieur, and let us pray God that they be still in
Languedoc and may be found in time."
"It shall be done, monsieur, I promise you," he answered me solemnly.
"But I implore you not to hope too much from it. Chatellerault has
it in his power to act promptly, and you may depend that he will
waste no time after what has passed."
"Still, we may have two or three days, and in those days you must
do what you can, my friend."
"You may depend upon me," he promised.
"And meanwhile, Castelroux," said I, "you will say no word of this
to any one."
That assurance also he gave me, and presently the lights of our
destination gleamed out to greet us.
That night I lay in a dank and gloomy cell of the prison of Toulouse,
with never a hope to bear company during those dark, wakeful hours.
A dull rage was in my soul as I thought of my position, for it had
not needed Castelroux's recommendation to restrain me from building
false hopes upon his chances of finding Rodenard and my followers in
time to save me.
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