She had hardly
left her house when Corentin entered it.
"Oh, Monsieur Corentin," cried Francine, "if you are interested in
this young man, save him; Mademoiselle has gone to give him up because
of this wretched letter."
Corentin took the letter carelessly and asked,--
"Which way did she go?"
"I don't know."
"Yes," he said, "I will save her from her own despair."
He disappeared, taking the letter with him. When he reached the street
he said to Galope-Chopine's boy, whom he had stationed to watch the
door, "Which way did a lady go who left the house just now?"
The boy went with him a little way and showed him the steep street
which led to the Porte Saint-Leonard. "That way," he said.
At this moment four men entered Mademoiselle de Verneuil's house,
unseen by either the boy or Corentin.
"Return to your watch," said the latter. "Play with the handles of the
blinds and see what you can inside; look about you everywhere, even on
the roof."
Corentin darted rapidly in the direction given him, and thought he
recognized Mademoiselle de Verneuil through the fog; he did, in fact,
overtake her just as she reached the guard-house.
"Where are you going?" he said; "you are pale--what has happened? Is
it right for you to be out alone? Take my arm."
"Where is the commandant?" she asked.
Hardly had the words left her lips when she heard the movement of
troops beyond the Porte Saint-Leonard and distinguished Hulot's gruff
voice in the tumult.
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