But one of the other men cursed him for a fool; and presently, forced to
accept his defeat or be left alone, he rejoined his fellows. Slowly the
footsteps and voices receded along the lane; slowly, until silence
swallowed them, and on the quivering strained senses of the two who
remained behind, descended the gentle influence of twilight and the sweet
scent of the new-mown hay on which they lay.
La Tribe turned to his companion, his eyes shining. "Our soul is
escaped," he murmured, "even as a bird out of the snare of the fowler.
The snare is broken and we are delivered!" His voice shook as he
whispered the ancient words of triumph.
But when they came to look in the nest at Tignonville's feet there was no
egg!
CHAPTER IX. UNSTABLE.
And that troubled M. la Tribe no little, although he did not impart his
thoughts to his companion. Instead they talked in whispers of the things
which had happened; of the Admiral, of Teligny, whom all loved, of
Rochefoucauld the accomplished, the King's friend; of the princes in the
Louvre whom they gave up for lost, and of the Huguenot nobles on the
farther side of the river, of whose safety there seemed some hope.
Tignonville--he best knew why--said nothing of the fate of his betrothed,
or of his own adventures in that connection.
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