On the stairs he
met his cousin, with Madame de Lescure and the nurse and child.
"Haste, Henri, for God's sake, haste," said she; "I heard the tramp of
their horses through my open window."
De Lescure had opened the summer door leading into the garden as he came
up stairs, to have it ready for his exit, and he, and those under his
care, escaped through it into the garden.
"Shut the garden door," roared Henri to him from the top of the
staircase. "Shut the door, whatever you do." De Lescure could not
understand his object, but he trusted his cousin, and closed the door
as he passed through it. Henri had perceived that it would be impossible
for him to regain the hall, and had resolved to jump from the window of
the staircase into the garden, with his precious burden in his arms. He
foresaw that if the door were left open, pursuit through it would be
both inevitable and fatal.
Marie's room was close to the top of the stairs, and her lover did not
use much ceremony in opening the door. In going to and from his wife's
chamber, de Lescure had not passed it, and therefore the innocent girl
slept soundly till Henri's sudden entrance roused her from her dreams.
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