"
"And where do you sleep?"
"In the entrance hall of the chateau, with five servants."
"Armed?"
"They have pikes, sir, but no firearms. The duke will not trust them
with firearms."
Then at last I took the matter boldly in my hands. I had failed once at
"Jacob's Ladder;" I should fail again there. I must make the attack from
the other side.
"I have promised you twenty thousand crowns," said I. "You shall have
fifty thousand if you will do what I ask of you tomorrow night. But,
first, do those servants know who your prisoner is?"
"No, sir. They believe him to be some private enemy of the duke's."
"And they would not doubt that I am the King?"
"How should they?" he asked.
"Look to this, then. Tomorrow, at two in the morning exactly, fling open
the front door of the chateau. Don't fail by an instant."
"Shall you be there, sir?"
"Ask no questions. Do what I tell you. Say the hall is close, or what
you will. That is all I ask of you."
"And may I escape by the door, sir, when I have opened it?"
"Yes, as quick as your legs will carry you. One thing more. Carry this
note to madame--oh, it's in French, you can't read it--and charge her,
for the sake of all our lives, not to fail in what it orders."
The man was trembling but I had to trust to what he had of courage and
to what he had of honesty.
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