There was ten times more confusion now in the chateau, than there had
been during the night: every room and passage was crowded with peasants,
who took up their positions there under the plea of guarding their
prisoners, and with the girls and women of the neighbourhood who flocked
to that place, as soon as they heard that the horrible blues were all
prisoners, and that the Marquis and Mademoiselle were once more at
liberty. Agatha's troubles were by no means ended. Provisions of some
kind were to be procured for the friends who had come so far and done
so much to relieve them; and she had no one on whom she could depend to
assist her in procuring them: the servants all considered themselves
utterly unfitted for anything, except talking of the events of the
evening; and though every one was burning with affection and zeal for
Monseigneur and Mademoiselle, no one appeared willing to make himself
useful.
The reaction on his feelings was too much for the poor Marquis. During
the long evening and night, in which he had been a prisoner and looking
forward to nothing but death; in which he had sat beside his
fondly-loved daughter, whose fate he feared would be so much more
horrible than death itself, he had patiently and manfully born his
sufferings; he had even displayed a spirit for which few gave him
credit, who were accustomed to his gentle temper and mild manners; but
the unexpected recovery of his own and his daughter's liberty upset him
entirely.
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