I left
him at liberty to separate himself from me if he pleased, but he
did not use the opportunity. A kind of comradeship, rendered
piquant by our peculiar relations, had begun to spring up between
us. He seemed to take an odd pleasure in my company, more than
once rallied me on my post of jailor, would ask humorously if he
might do this or that; and once even inquired what I should do if
he broke his parole.
'Or take it this way,' he continued flippantly, 'Suppose I had
struck you in the back this evening in that cursed swamp by the
river, M. de Berault? What then! PARDIEU, I am astonished at
myself that I did not do it. I could have been in Montauban
within twenty-four hours, and found fifty hiding-places and no
one the wiser.'
'Except your sister,' I said quietly.
He made a wry face. 'Yes,' he said, 'I am afraid that I must
have stabbed her too, to preserve my self-respect. You are
right.' And he fell into a reverie which held him for a few
minutes. Then I found him looking at me with a kind of frank
perplexity that invited question.
'What is it?' I said.
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