"He escaped through the window," she answered firmly, "by my
brother's aid."
"Your brother's?" I exclaimed, amazed at her audacity. "I do
not remember him."
"He is only thirteen years old."
I could hide my astonishment no longer. "You must be mad, girl!"
I said, "mad! You do not know what you are saying! The window
of the room in which Vilain was confined is fifty feet from the
ground, and you say that your brother, a boy of thirteen,
contrived his escape?"
"Yes, M. de Sully," she answered. "And the man who is about to
suffer is innocent."
"How was it done, then?" I asked, not knowing what to think of
her persistence.
"My brother was flying a kite that day," she answered. "He had
been doing so for a week or more, and everyone was accustomed to
seeing him here. After sunset, the wind being favourable, he
came under M. de Vilain's window, and, when it was nearly dark,
and the servants and household were at supper, he guided the kite
against the balcony outside the window."
"But a man cannot descend by a kite-string!"
"My brother had a knotted rope, which M.
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