The servants were too uneasy not to watch the fate of their young mistress.

Madame d'Hauteserre, who, from the moment of Laurence's entrance, had studied her with the anxiety of a mother, rose, took her by the arm, led her aside, and said in a low voice, "Have you seen them ?" "Do you think I could have let your sons be under this roof without your knowing it ?" replied Laurence.

"Durieu," she added, "see if it is possible to save my poor Stella; she is still breathing." "She must have gone a great distance," said Corentin.
"Forty miles in three hours," she answered, addressing the abbe, who watched her with amazement.

"I started at half-past nine, and it was well past one when I returned." She looked at the clock which said half-past two.
"So you don't deny that you have ridden forty miles ?" said Corentin.
"No," she said.

"I admit that my cousins, in their perfect innocence, expected not to be excluded from the amnesty, and were on their way to Cinq-Cygne.