It might well be
supposed that he had been drowned. Climbing up the bank he gained, after
walking a quarter of a mile, the forest that surrounded Paris on all
sides. Going some distance into it he threw himself down, after first
taking off his doublet and hanging it on a bush to dry. He had escaped the
first pressing danger, that of being taken and tortured into confession,
and the rest was now comparatively easy. He had but to obtain another
disguise of some sort and to re-enter Paris; he would then be in no
greater danger than before, for in the sudden attack on Simon, and in the
subsequent flight through the ill-lighted streets, he was certain that
beyond the fact that he was young and active, and that he was evidently
not a noble, no one could have noted any details of his dress, and
certainly no one could have had as much as a glance at his face.
He started at daybreak, walked through the woods up to Meudon, and thence
to Versailles, which was then little more than a village. By the time that
he reached it his clothes had thoroughly dried on him, and being of a dark
colour they looked little the worse, save that his tight pantaloons had
shrunk considerably. The stalls were just opening when he arrived there,
and he presently came upon one where garments of all sorts were hanging.
The proprietor's wife, a cheery-looking woman, was standing at the door.
"I have need of some garments, madame," he said.
Pages:
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320