Page:The Story of Manon Lescaut and of the Chevalier des Grieux.pdf/254

258 ration there, and even he had been refused permission to see her—so strict were the orders of the Lieutenant-General of Police. The most crushing blow of all, he added, was that the departure of the unhappy band of which she was to be one was to take place in two days from that time.

My dismay at this information was so great that, had he continued talking for an hour I should not have thought of interrupting him. He went on to say that he had not gone to see me at the Châtelet, in order that, by avoiding any appearance of collusion with me, he might be the better able to render me assistance. During the few hours which had elapsed since my leaving there, he had been much distressed at not knowing where I was to be found; and had been anxious to see me as soon as possible in order to offer me the only suggestion which seemed to hold out any hope of averting Manon's fate. The plan he had to propose was fraught with great danger, and he begged me earnestly never to divulge the fact of his complicity in it. It was to hire a few picked bravos, with courage enough to make an attack upon Manon's guards as soon as they reached the outskirts of Paris with their prisoner.

Without waiting for me to make any reference to my