He
played the part of an ignorant so well, indeed, that, for a
moment, I was staggered by his show of astonishment, and by the
earnestness with which he denounced the outrage; nor could
Maignan find anything on him. But, a moment later, remembering
the girl's words, I strode to the nearest tree, and, groping
about it, in a twinkling unearthed the paper from a little hollow
in the trunk that seemed to have been made to receive it. I need
not say with what relief I found the seals unbroken; nor with
what indignation I turned on the villain thus convicted of an act
of treachery towards the King only less black than the sin
against hospitality of which he had been guilty in my house. But
the discovery I had made seemed enough of itself to overwhelm
him; for, after standing apparently stunned while I spoke, he
jerked himself suddenly out of his captors' hands, and made a
desperate attempt to escape. Finding this hopeless, and being
seized again before he had gone four paces, he shouted, at the
top of his voice: "Back! back! Go back!"
We looked about, somewhat startled, and Boisrueil, with presence
of mind, ran into the darkness to see if he could detect the
person addressed; but though he thought that he saw the skirt of
a flying cloak disappear in the gloom, he was not sure; and I,
having no mind to be mixed up with the ambassador, called him
back.
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