And even as the Marquis spoke, a clatter of hoofs on the stone pavement leading from the Mount to the sand ushered a horseman into view. He was followed by another and yet another, until in somewhat desultory fashion, owing to the tortuous difficulties of the narrow way that had separated them above, an array of mounted men was gathered at the base of the rock. But only for a moment; a few words from one of their number, evidently in command, and they dispersed; some to ride around the Mount to the left, others to the right.
"Perhaps Elise will enlighten us?" Of one accord her guests now crowded around the girl.
"Does the Governor intend to take us prisoners?"
"You imply it is necessary to do that – to keep you?" answered my lady.
"Then why – "
Her expression, as perplexed as theirs, answered.
"Beppo!" She waved her hand.
The Governor's servitor, who was passing, with an anxious, inquiring look upon his face, glanced around.
"Beppo!" she repeated, and beckoned again.
The man approached. "Your Ladyship wishes to speak with me?" he asked in a voice he endeavored to make unconcerned.
"I do." In her manner the old antipathy she had felt toward him as a child again became manifest. "What do the soldiers want? Why have they come down?"
His eyes shifted. "I – my Lady – " he stammered.
The little foot struck the strand. "Why don't you answer? You heard my question?"
"I am sorry, my Lady – " Again he hesitated: "Le Seigneur Noir has been seen on the beach!"
"Le Seigneur Noir?" she repeated.
"Yes, my Lady. He was caught sight of among the peasants, at the time the barrels were opened, in accordance with your Ladyship's command. I assure your Ladyship," with growing eagerness, "there can be no mistake, as – "
"Who," interrupted my lady sharply, "is this Black Seigneur?"
Beppo's manner changed. "A man," he said solemnly, "his Excellency, the Governor, has long been most anxious to capture."
The girl's eyes flashed with impatience, and then she began to laugh. "Saw you ever, my Lords and Ladies, his equal for equivocation? You put to him the question direct, and he answers – "
The loud report of a carbine from the other side of the Mount, followed by a desultory volley, interrupted her. The laughter died on her lips; the color left her cheek.
"What – " The startled look in her eyes completed the sentence.
Beppo rubbed his hands softly. "His Excellency takes no chances!" he murmured.
CHAPTER VI
A MESSENGER FOR MY LADY
"So you failed to capture him, Monsieur le Commandant?"
The speaker, the Marquis de Beauvillers, leaned more comfortably back in his chair in the small, rather barely furnished barracks' sitting-room in which he found himself later that night and languidly surveyed the florid, irate countenance of the man in uniform before him.
"No, Monsieur le Marquis," said the latter, endeavoring to conceal any evidence of mortification or ill humor in the presence of a visitor so distinguished; "we didn't. But," as if to turn the conversation, with a gesture toward a well-laden table, "I should feel honored if – "
"Thank you, no! After our repast on the beach – however, stand on no ceremony yourself. Nay, I insist – "
"If Monsieur le Marquis insists! – " The commandant drew up his chair; then, reaching for a bottle, poured out a glass of wine, which he offered his guest.
"No, no!" said the Marquis. "But as I remarked before, stand on no ceremony!" And daintily opening a snuff-box, he watched his host with an expression half-amused, half-ironical.
That person ate and drank with little relish; the wine – so he said – had spoiled; and the dishes were without flavor; it was fortunate Monsieur le Marquis had no appetite —
Whereupon the Marquis smiled; but, considering the circumstances, in his own mind excused the commandant, who had only just come from the Governor's palace, and who, after the interview that undoubtedly had ensued, could hardly be expected to find the pâté palatable, or the wine to his liking. This, despite the complaisance of the young nobleman whom the commandant had encountered, while descending from the Governor's abode, and who, adapting his step to the other's had accompanied the officer back to his quarters, and graciously accepted an invitation to enter.
"Well, you know the old saying," the Marquis closed the box with a snap, "'There's many a slip' – but how," airily brushing with his handkerchief imaginary particles from a long lace cuff, "did he get away?"
"He had got away before we were down on the beach. It was a wild-goose chase, at best. And so I told his Excellency, the Governor – "
"A thankless task, no doubt! But the shots we heard – "
"An imbecile soldier saw a shadow; fired at it, and – "
"The others followed suit?" laughed the visitor.
"Exactly!" The commandant's face grew red; fiercely he pulled at his mustache. "What can one expect, when they make soldiers out of every dunderpate that comes along?"
"True!" assented the Marquis. "But this fellow, this Black Seigneur – why is the Governor so anxious to lay hands on him? Who is he, and what has he done? I confess," languidly, "to a mild curiosity."
"He's a privateersman and an outlaw, and has done enough to hang himself a dozen times – "
"When you capture him!" interposed the visitor lightly. A moment he studied the massive oak beams of the ceiling. "Why do they call him the Black Seigneur? An odd sobriquet!"
"His father was a Seigneur – the last of the fief of Desaurac. The Seigneurs have all been fair men for generations, while this fellow – "
"Then he has noble blood in him?" The Marquis showed surprise. "Where is the fief?"
"The woods on the shore mark the beginning of it."
"But – I don't understand. The father was a Seigneur; the son – "
Bluntly the commandant explained; the son was a natural child; the mother, a common peasant woman whom the former Seigneur had taken to his house —
"I see!" The young nobleman tapped his knee. "And that being the case – "
"Under the terms of the ancient grant, there being no legal heir, the lands were confiscated to the crown. His Excellency, however, had already bought many of the incumbrances against the property, and, in view of this, and his services to the King, the fief, declared forfeited by the courts, was subsequently granted and deeded, without condition, to the Governor."
"To the Governor!" repeated the Marquis.
"Who at once began a rare clearing-out; forcing the peasants who for years had not been paying métayage, to meet this just requirement, or – move away!"
"And did not some of them object?"
"They did; but his Excellency found means. The most troublesome were arrested and taken to the Mount, where they have had time to reflect – his Excellency believes in no half-way measures with peasants."
"A rich principality, no doubt!" half to himself spoke the Marquis.
"I have heard," blurted the commandant, "he's going to give it to the Lady Elise; restore the old castle and turn the grounds surrounding it into a noble park."
The visitor frowned, as if little liking the introduction of the lady's name into the conversation. "And what did the Black Seigneur do then," he asked coldly, "when he found his lands gone?"
"Claimed it was a plot! – that his mother was an honest woman, though neither the priest who performed the ceremony nor the marriage records could be found. He even resisted at first