Adolphe had been quite right, when he said that they were not at all like Henri.  There was not one of the whole party who did not strive, heartily and truly, to forgive the treason and iniquity of which he had been guilty; but there was not one there who did not, at the same time, feel a secret wish that he or she might never again be under the same roof with the man who had been a traitor, both to his friends and to his King.

Arthur Mondyon soon left them, and hurried out to bear his part in the contest which was just commencing.  He was a little jealous to think that his accustomed place near Henri should have been taken from him by one who had proved himself so faithless as Denot, but still he was not inclined to pass such a day as this in-doors, with sick men and trembling women.  He promised, however, to come to them himself from time to time, or if that were impossible, to send them news of what was going on; and as it was probable that the thickest of the fight would be either in the town, or immediately on the skirts of it, there was no reason why he should not keep his promise.

For a couple of hours they remained in dreadful suspense, hearing nothing and fearing everything.  It seemed to them as though whole days must have passed in those two hours.  De Lescure became dreadfully impatient, and even irritable; declaring at one moment that he was quite equal to mount his horse, and that he would go out and see what they were about; and then again almost fainting, with the exhaustion occasioned by his intense excitement.  Then he would lament the inexperience of Henri, expressing his dread that his indiscretion this day would ruin all their hopes:  and, again, when he saw how painful these surmises were to Agatha and Marie, he would begin to praise his courage and indomitable good spirits, and declare that their strongest safeguard lay in the affection to his person, which was shared by every peasant of La Vendee.

Their suspense was at length broken; not by any visit or message from their own party, but by a most unexpected and unwelcome sight.  On a sudden, they again heard the tumultuous noise of troops coming down the street; but, on this occasion, they were entering, instead of leaving the town; and as the rushing body of men turned a corner in the street, it was seen that they all wore the well-known blue uniform of the republican regiments.  Yes, there in truth were the blues, now immediately under the house they were occupying:  file after file of sturdy, grizzled veteran soldiers, hurried through the streets in quick, but regular time.  Men quite unlike their own dear peasant soldiers; men with muskets in their hands, shakos on their heads, and cartouche boxes slung behind their backs.  The three ladies, before whose sight this horrid reality of a danger, so long apprehended, suddenly appeared, had never been so near a scene of absolute battle.  Agatha, it is true, had had to endure through one long and dreadful night the presence of Santerre and his men in the chateau of Durbelliere; but then she had no active part to play; she had only to sit in quiet, and wait for her doom:  now they all felt that something should be done, some means should be tried to escape from the danger which was so close to them.