"You see," cried the princess in a hurried voice, "Adrienne knows all.
What shall we do?--what?"

"I cannot tell," said the abbe, with a fixed and absent look. "This
disclosure is a terrible blow to us."

"Is all, then, lost?"

"There is only one means of safety," said M. d'Aigrigny;--"the doctor."

"But how?" cried the princess. "So, sudden? this very day?"

"Two hours hence, it will be too late; ere then, this infernal girl will
have seen Marshal Simon's daughters."

"But--Frederick!--it is impossible! M. Baleinier will never consent. I
ought to have been prepared before hand as we intended, after to-day's
examination."

"No matter," replied the abbe, quickly; "the doctor must try at any
hazard."

"But under what pretext?"

"I will try and find one."

"Suppose you were to find a pretext, Frederick, and we could act
immediately--nothing would be ready down there."

"Be satisfied: they are always ready there, by habitual foresight."