For an instant the impulse to refuse to mount, to refuse to go, was almost irresistible; then, knowing the madness of such a course, which might, and probably would, give the men the chance they desired, I crushed it down and went slowly to my stirrup.
'I wonder you do not want my sword,' I said by way of sarcasm, as I swung myself up.
'We are not afraid of it,' the innkeeper answered gravely.

'You may keep it--for the present.' I made no answer--what answer had I to make ?--and we rode at a footpace down the street; he and I leading, Clon and the shock-headed man bringing up the rear.

The leisurely mode of our departure, the absence of hurry or even haste, the men's indifference whether they were seen, or what was thought, all served to sink my spirits and deepen my sense of peril.

I felt that they suspected me, that they more than half guessed the nature of my errand at Cocheforet, and that they were not minded to be bound by Mademoiselle's orders.

In particular, I augured the worst from Clon's appearance.