And whatever I have done ill in my
life--of which you were good enough to throw something in my
teeth when I was last here--I have never done that, and I will
not!'
'And so you set him free?'
'Yes.'
'After you had brought him to Auch?'
'Yes.'
'And, in point of fact, saved him from falling into the hands of
the Commandant at Auch?'
'Yes,' I answered desperately to all.
'Then, what of the trust I placed in you, sirrah?' he rejoined,
in a terrible voice; and stooping still farther forward he probed
me with his eyes. 'You who prate of trust and confidence, who
received your life on parole, and but for your promise to me
would have been carrion this month past, answer me that? What of
the trust I placed in you?'
'The answer is simple,' I said, shrugging my shoulders with a
touch of my old self. 'I am here to pay the penalty.'
'And do you think that I do not know why?' he retorted, striking
one hand on the arm of his chair with a force that startled me.
'Because you have heard, sir, that my power is gone! Because you
have heard that I, who was yesterday the King's right hand, am
to-day dried up, withered and paralysed! Because you have heard
--but have a care! have a care!' he continued with
extraordinary vehemence, and in a voice like a dog's snarl.
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