It was true that I might
obtain respite by announcing myself as the Sieur de la Tournoire, for he
would wish to present me alive to the governor, if he could do so. The
governor and the Duke of Guise would desire to season their revenge on me
with torture, and to attempt the forcing from me of secrets of our party.
But to make myself known as La Tournoire was but to defer my death. The
life that I might thus prolong could not be of any further service to
mademoiselle or to Henri of Navarre. Still, I might so gain time. I might
escape; my men might rescue me. So, as a last resource, I would save my
life by disclosing myself; but I would defer this disclosure until the
last possible instant. De Berquin and Barbemouche were evidently in for
amusing themselves awhile at my expense. They would prolong matters for
their own pleasure and my own further humiliation. Meanwhile, an
unexpected means of eluding them might arise.
As for their presence there, I have always accounted for it on this
supposition: That, after their defeat on the previous night, they had
reunited in the woods, hidden themselves where they might observe our
departure from the inn in the morning, followed us at a distance into
the mountain forest, lost our track, and finally, knowing neither of
Godeau's inn nor of their nearness to the road, dismounted, and sought
afoot an open space in which to pass the night.
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