Chapter V

Abstract

It is difficult to describe the Marquis’s surprise when, upon his return to Gange, he found neither Villefranche nor his wife. The Abbé, though better informed, feigned the same astonishment as his brother, and all and sundry seemed dismayed. ‘We have been tricked,’ the Marquis said to Théodore. ‘The two of them are on the run, and it was to throw us off the scent that they had people say the coach they hired in Beaucaire was taking them to Gange. Oh, the cruel situation in which this poor woman and I now find ourselves! She thinks me guilty, and I am convinced she is too. However, I want to find out more — love and pride demand that much.’