You will treat him as a hostage, with all respect, and will allow him to
preserve his _incognito_. But if I do not return by noon to-morrow, you
will deliver him to the men below, who will know how to deal with him."
Count Hannibal made no attempt to interrupt him, nor did he betray the
discomfiture which he undoubtedly felt. But as the Grand Master paused--
"M. de Biron," he said, in a voice harsh and low, "you will answer to me
for this!" And his eyes glittered through the slits in the mask.
"Possibly, but not to-day or to-morrow!" Biron replied, shrugging his
shoulders contemptuously. "Peridol! see the gentleman bestowed as I have
ordered, and then return to me. Monsieur," with a bow, half courteous,
half ironical, "let me commend to you the advantages of silence and your
mask." And he waved his hand in the direction of the door.
A moment Count Hannibal hesitated. He was in the heart of a hostile
fortress where the resistance of a single man armed to the teeth must
have been futile; and he was unarmed, save for a poniard. Nevertheless,
for a moment the impulse to spring on Biron, and with the dagger at his
throat to make his life the price of a safe passage, was strong. Then--for
with the warp of a harsh and passionate character were interwrought an
odd shrewdness and some things little suspected--he resigned himself.
Pages:
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180