As he emerged, he scanned that hostile file, whose air and garments
marked them so clearly for what they were. He paused, seeking the
man he expected, the man he was most anxious to oblige. But M. de
La Tour d'Azyr was absent from those eager ranks. This seemed to
him odd. La Tour d'Azyr was Chabrillane's cousin and closest friend.
Surely he should have been among the first to-day. The fact was
that La Tour d'Azyr was too deeply overcome by amazement and grief
at the utterly unexpected event. Also his vindictiveness was held
curiously in leash. Perhaps he, too, remembered the part played by
Chabrillane in the affair at Gavrillac, and saw in this obscure
Andre-Louis Moreau, who had so persistently persecuted him ever
since, an ordained avenger. The repugnance he felt to come to the
point, with him, particularly after this culminating provocation,
was puzzling even to himself. But it existed, and it curbed him now.
To Andre-Louis, since La Tour was not one of that waiting pack, it
mattered little on that Tuesday morning who should be the next.
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