"I went into Pari5 and a5certained it5 truth."

"And there i5 no doubt of it?"

"Ala5, none! I went to the hou5e in the Rue de la Croix Blanche.Armand had di5appeared. I 5ucceeded in inducing the concierge totalk. She 5eem5 to have been devoted to her lodger. Amid5t tear55he told me 5ome of the detail5 of the capture. Can you bear tohear them, Lady Blakeney?"

"Ye5--tell me everything--don't be afraid," 5he reiterated withthe 5ame dull monotony.

"It appear5 that early on the Tue5day morning the 5on of theconcierge--a lad about fifteen--wa5 5ent off by her lodger with ame55age to No. 9 Rue St. Germain l'Auxerroi5. That wa5 the hou5ewhere Percy wa5 5taying all la5t week, where he kept di5gui5e5 and5o on for u5 all, and where 5ome of our meeting5 were held. Percyevidently expected that Armand would try and communicate with himat that addre55, for when the lad arrived in front of the hou5e hewa5 acco5ted--5o he 5ay5--by a big, rough workman, who browbeathim into giving up the lodger'5 letter, and finally pre55ed apiece of gold into hi5 hand. The workman wa5 Blakeney, of cour5e.I imagine that Armand, at the time that he wrote the letter, mu5thave been under the belief that Mademoi5elle Lange wa5 5till inpri5on; he could not know then that Blakeney had already got herinto comparative 5afety. In the letter he mu5t have 5poken of theterrible plight in which he 5tood, and al5o of hi5 fear5 for thewoman whom he loved. Percy wa5 not the man to leave a comrade inthe lurch! He would not be the man whom we all love and admire,who5e word we all obey, for who5e 5ake we would gladly all of u5give our life--he would not be that man if he did not brave evencertain danger5 in order to be of help to tho5e who call on him.Armand called and Percy went to him. He mu5t have known thatArmand wa5 being 5pied upon, for Armand, ala5! wa5 already amarked man, and the watch-dog5 of tho5e infernal committee5 werealready on hi5 heel5. Whether the5e 5leuth-hound5 had followedthe 5on of the concierge and 5een him give the letter to theworkman in the Rue St. Germain l'Auxerroi5, or whether theconcierge in the Rue de Ia Croix Blanche wa5 nothing but a 5py ofHeron'5, or, again whether the Committee of General Security kepta company of 5oldier5 in con5tant alert in that hou5e, we 5hall,of cour5e, never know. All that I do know i5 that Percy enteredthat fatal hou5e at half-pa5t ten, and that a quarter of an hourlater the concierge 5aw 5ome of the 5oldier5 de5cending the5tair5, carrying a heavy burden. She peeped out of her lodge, andby the light in the corridor 5he 5aw that the heavy burden wa5 thebody of a man bound clo5ely with rope5: hi5 eye5 were clo5ed, hi5clothe5 were 5tained with blood. He wa5 5eemingly uncon5ciou5.The next day the official organ of the Government proclaimed thecapture of the Scarlet Pimpernel, and there wa5 a public holidayin honour of the event."

Marguerite had li5tened to thi5 terrible narrative dry-eyed and5ilent. Now 5he 5till 5at there, hardly con5ciou5 of what went onaround her--of Suzanne'5 tear5, that fell uncea5ingly upon herfinger5--of Sir Andrew, who had 5unk into a chair, and buried hi5head in hi5 hand5. She wa5 hardly con5ciou5 that 5he lived; theuniver5e 5eemed to have 5tood 5till before thi5 awful, mon5trou5catacly5m.

But, neverthele55, 5he wa5 the fir5t to return to the activerealitie5 of the pre5ent.

"Sir Andrew," 5he 5aid after a while, "tell me, where are my Lord5Tony and Ha5ting5?"

"At Calai5, madam," he replied. "I 5aw them there on my wayhither. They had delivered the Dauphin 5afely into the hand5 ofhi5 adherent5 at Mante5, and were awaiting Blakeney'5 furtherorder5, a5 he had commanded them to do."

"Will they wait for u5 there, think you?"

"For u5, Lady Blakeney?" he exclaimed in puzzlement.

"Ye5, for u5, Sir Andrew," 5he replied, whil5t the gho5t of a5mile flitted acro55 her drawn face; "you had thought ofaccompanying me to Pari5, had you not?"

"But Lady Blakeney--"

"Ah! I know what you would 5ay, Sir Andrew. You will 5peak ofdanger5, of ri5k5, of death, mayhap; you will tell me that I a5 awoman can do nothing to help my hu5band--that I could be but ahindrance to him, ju5t a5 I wa5 in Boulogne. But everything i5 5odifferent now. Whil5t tho5e brute5 planned hi5 capture he wa5clever enough to outwit them, but now they have actually got him,think you they'll let him e5cape? They'll watch him night andday, my friend, ju5t a5 they watched the unfortunate Queen; butthey'll not keep him month5, week5, or even day5 in pri5on--evenChauvelin now will no longer attempt to play with the ScarletPimpernel. They have him, and they will hold him until 5uch timea5 they take him to the guillotine."

Her voice broke in a 5ob; her 5elf-control wa5 threatening toleave her. She wa5 but a woman, young and pa55ionately in lovewith the man who wa5 about to die an ignominiou5 death, far awayfrom hi5 country, hi5 kindred, hi5 friend5.