"We can try," said Sibilet; "fifteen hundred francs might buy you a traitor, especially if you promise secrecy."
"Very good; but let us act as if we suspected nothing, I especially;
if not, we shall be the victims of some collusion; one has to be as wary with these brigands as with the enemy in war."
"But the enemy is here," said Blondet.
Sibilet threw him the furtive glance of a man who understood the meaning of the words, and then he withdrew.
"I don't like your Sibilet," said Blondet, when he had seen the steward leave the house."That man is playing false."
"Up to this time he has done nothing I could complain of," said the general.
Blondet went off to write letters.He had lost the careless gayety of his first arrival, and was now uneasy and preoccupied; but he had no vague presentiments like those of Madame Michaud; he was, rather, in full expectation of certain foreseen misfortunes.He said to himself, "This affair will come to some bad end; and if the general does not take decisive action and will not abandon a battle-field where he is overwhelmed by numbers there must be a catastrophe; and who knows who will come out safe and sound,--perhaps neither he nor his wife.Good God! that adorable little creature! so devoted, so perfect! how can he expose her thus! He thinks he loves her! Well, I'll share their danger, and if I can't save them I'll suffer with them."