" He gently laid her down, with her head in the lap of her kind
sister, and then turned his back upon the party, that he might not gaze
on the fair bosom, which was all exposed, and the naked limbs, which her
dishevelled night dress did not suffice to cover.
Madame de Lescure and her nurse hastened to strip themselves of a
portion of their clothes; it had been lucky that neither of them were
undressed at the time of the attack, and though they were ill-prepared
for a long journey, having neither caps nor strong shoes, nor shawls of
any kind, yet they contrived between them to dress poor Marie decently.
The nurse gave her shoes and stockings, declaring that going barefoot
would not trouble her the least, and before many minutes had been
wasted, they were again ready to proceed.
De Lescure and Henri had not lost these precious moments: the waggon was
again put into motion: the three men carefully armed themselves: they
loaded their pistols, for among the goods they were taking away, was the
little remnant of gunpowder which was left among them: they decided that
on hearing the first sound of pursuit, they would leave the waggon, and
betake themselves to the thickest part of the woods; but both de Lescure
and Henri were of opinion that they would not be followed.
Pages:
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496