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UCETTE’S visit to the Castle in quest of Gabrielle was the result of several causes which had important bearing upon the position.

In the first place Gerard's plan to send a second messenger in hot haste to Cambrai, urging his cousin in command of the Bourbon troops there to hurry on to Morvaix, had been delayed. The messenger had been stopped at the city gate.

Pascal, in his monk's garb, was present and had been greatly disconcerted and not a little alarmed by the mischance. If it meant nothing more serious it must involve delay. The message must be despatched somehow, that was certain, because everything depended upon the troops being brought up at the earliest opportunity.

To attempt this in the daylight seemed impracticable; since the messenger would have to drop from the walls at some favouring point, and the cover of darkness was necessary for such a venture. Moreover, a spot would have to be found where the thing could be done; and neither Pascal nor any of his men knew enough of the city to select one. There was, further, the imminent risk that the courier, being on foot, might be intercepted and so the whole plan fail.

But in this dilemma, help came most unexpectedly. A stranger accosted Pascal, and recognizing him as the monk who had stood between the citizens and the crowd