Читать книгу Sir Isumbras at the Ford - D. K. Broster - Страница 18

"Oh yes," exclaimed the child. "At the meeting I heard them call him 'Monsieur Augustin,' and I wondered why, because I know it is not one of his noms de baptême."

Mlle. Angèle made a strange gesture with her little mittened hands. Mme. de Chaulnes frowned at her.

"That is quite simple, mon petit; at least, I think so," she said, looking down at Anne's upturned visage, rather flushed by the proximity of the fire. "'Monsieur Augustin' is a nom de guerre, and it is the name of one of the Chouan leaders—you know who the Chouans are, who fight for the King in Brittany? So that your M. de la Vireville and 'Monsieur Augustin' must be one and the same person. He is tall and dark, and has a scar on his cheek, has he not, M. le Chevalier?"

"Yes," said Anne. "Yes, there is a mark there. Oh, do you know him?"

"No," said Mme. de Chaulnes, "but I have heard of him. And your Chevalier will be 'Monsieur Augustin.' Well, that is the answer to your question, and you see it is quite simple. Now, do you not think it is time for you to go to bed, Anne? First, however, I think you should write a little letter to Grandpapa—quite a short letter, to say that you have arrived safely. Do you not think that would please him?"

And Anne, assenting, was shortly installed at an escritoire, where, perched upon a chair heightened by a cushion, he slowly and laboriously penned a brief epistle to Mr. Elphinstone. And at the table in the middle of the little hall Mme. de Chaulnes was writing too.