"
Would the duke guess the hope with which I was going downstairs, I
wondered. I thought he did, for his eyes flashed slightly, and he
stirred a little on the chest.
"Such a miracle, Monsieur," he remarked, "would serve France greatly. As
a good son of the Church, I will pray for it with all my heart!"
"I hope to come back," I went on, "and rejoin you. But if I shouldn't
for any reason,"--with careful vagueness,--"you must stay here,
barricaded, till they are gone. Then Miss Falconer can drive her car
to the nearest town and bring back help for you. You see, it will be
entirely simple, either way."
The girl, very white now, took a swift step toward me.
"Simple?" she cried. "They will kill you! They hate you, Mr. Bayne, and
they are four to one. You mustn't go."
But the duke's hand was on her arm.
"My dear," he said, "he has reason. This friend of yours, I perceive,
is a gallant gentleman. Believe me, if I had strength to stand, he would
not go alone."
He held out the papers to me, and I took them. Then we clasped hands,
the Firefly and I.
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