Duchenier or The revolt of La Vende Author:John Mason Neale Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER IV. When Marie de Beaurepaire was seized by the soldier of the National Guard, at the moment that the Chateau de Cerisay was gained, she knew enough o... more »f the ferocity of the republican troops to give herself up as devoted to instant death. But her name had been inserted in the warrant of arrest, and the soldier feared to deprive a mightier tyrant than himself of his prey. He therefore contented himself with tying her hands after no gentle sort; and thus detained her till—the royalists being obliged to draw off their forces—De Cailly was at liberty to inquire into the condition of the few prisoners he had made. He reproved the man for his barbarity, but in very measured terms; for the vengeance of a concitoyen might easily denounce him at the revolutionary tribunal; and then apologised to his captive for the harshness with which she had been treated. " I should not have thought," he said, " of detaining you, Mademoiselle de Beaurepaire, from the mere fact of your having been discovered in the house of a gentleman who had been unfortunate enough to fall under the suspicion of Convention, and who has now, I grieve to say, given so much countenance to those suspicions; but your name, I regret to inform you, occurs in my warrant, and we military men are as much subject to orders as the meanest soldier. In the mean time, all that can be done to render your situation easy, I hope you will reckon on my procuring you." Marie's first thought was to establish some communication between herself and the female servants, who had sought refuge, as we have already said, in a part of the ancient portion of the house, known as the " Old Cellars." But these cellars opened from a pantry; and to request to be confined in that place would give rise to instant suspicion. " I have nothing ...« less