But Bigot minded not the implied threat. He was immovable in the
direction she wished him to move. He understood her allusion, but
would not appear to understand it, lest worse than she meant should
come of it.
"Forgive me, Angelique!" said he, with a sudden change from
frigidity to fondness. "I am not unmindful of my promises; there is
nothing better to myself than to keep them, nothing worse than to
break them. Beaumanoir is now without reproach, and you can visit
it without fear of aught but the ghosts in the gallery."
Angelique feared no ghosts, but she did fear that the Intendant's
words implied a suggestion of one which might haunt it for the
future, if there were any truth in tales.
"How can you warrant that, Bigot?" asked she dubiously.
"Because Pierre Philibert and La Corne St. Luc have been with the
King's warrant and searched the chateau from crypt to attic, without
finding a trace of your rival."
"What, Chevalier, searched the Chateau of the Intendant?"
"Par bleu! yes, I insisted upon their doing so; not, however, till
they had gone through the Castle of St.
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