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"You are no doubt surprised, Sir Percy," said Chauvelin after a
while, "to see Lady Blakeney here. She, as well as citizen St.
Just, will accompany our expedition to the place where you will
lead us. We none of us know where that place is--citizen Heron
and myself are entirely in your hands--you might be leading us to
certain death, or again to a spot where your own escape would be
an easy matter to yourself. You will not be surprised, therefore,
that we have thought fit to take certain precautions both against
any little ambuscade which you may have prepared for us, or
against your making one of those daring attempts at escape for
which the noted Scarlet Pimpernel is so justly famous."
He paused, and only Heron's low chuckle of satisfaction broke the
momentary silence that followed. Blakeney made no reply.
Obviously he knew exactly what was coming. He knew Chauvelin and
his ways, knew the kind of tortuous conception that would find
origin in his brain; the moment that he saw Marguerite sitting
there he must have guessed that Chauvelin once more desired to put
her precious life in the balance of his intrigues.
"Citizen Heron is impatient, Sir Percy," resumed Chauvelin after a
while, "so I must be brief. Lady Blakeney, as well as citizen St.
Just, will accompany us on this expedition to whithersoever you
may lead us. They will be the hostages which we will hold against
your own good faith. At the slightest suspicion--a mere suspicion
perhaps--that you have played us false, at a hint that you have
led us into an ambush, or that the whole of this expedition has
been but a trick on your part to effect your own escape, or if
merely our hope of finding Capet at the end of our journey is
frustrated, the lives of our two hostages belong to us, and your
friend and your wife will be summarily shot before your eyes."
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