Le Gardeur instantly advanced again upon him, but
was pressed back by the habitans, who rushed to the defence of the
Bourgeois. Then came the tempter to his ear,--a word or two, and
the fate of many innocent lives was decided in a moment!
Le Gardeur suddenly felt a hand laid upon his shoulder, and heard a
voice, a woman's voice, speaking to him in passionate tones.
Angelique had forced her horse into the thick of the crowd. She was
no longer calm, nor pale with apprehension, but her face was flushed
redder than fire, and her eyes, those magnetic orbs which drove men
mad, blazed upon Le Gardeur with all their terrible influence. She
had seen him struck by the Bourgeois, and her anger was equal to his
own.
De Pean saw the opportunity.
"Angelique," exclaimed he, "the Bourgeois strikes Le Gardeur! What
an outrage! Can you bear it?"
"Never!" replied she; "neither shall Le Gardeur!"
With a plunge of her horse she forced her way close to Le Gardeur,
and, leaning over him, laid her hand upon his shoulder and exclaimed
in a voice choking with passion,--
"Comment, Le Gardeur! vous souffrez qu'un Malva comme ca vous abime
de coups, et vous portez l'epee!" "What, Le Gardeur! you allow a
ruffian like that to load you with blows, and you wear a sword!"
It was enough! That look, that word, would have made Le Gardeur
slaughter his father at that moment.
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