He
still lay against the bank in a half-swooning condition, and
seemed unconscious of my scrutiny.
'Should I know him if he unmasked?' I said suddenly, a new idea
in my head.
'You would,' M. de Cocheforet answered.
'And?'
'It would be bad for everyone.'
'Ho! ho!' I replied softly, looking hard first at my old
prisoner, and then at my new one. 'Then--what do you wish me to
do?'
'Leave him here!' M. de Cocheforet answered, his face flushed,
the pulse in his cheek beating.
I had known him for a man of perfect honour before, and trusted
him. But this evident earnest anxiety on behalf of his friend
touched me not a little. Besides, I knew that I was treading on
slippery ground: that it behoved me to be careful.
'I will do it,' I said after a moment's reflection. 'He will
play me no tricks, I suppose? A letter of--'
'MON DIEU, no! He will understand,' Cocheforet answered eagerly.
'You will not repent it. Let us be going.'
'Well, but my horse?' I said, somewhat taken aback by this
extreme haste. 'How am I to--'
'We shall overtake it,' he assured me.
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