consequence of the tumult before his doors, in which, as he heard,
some of those lodging there had been concerned, he had orders
to post his men round the house, and to allow no one to enter or
leave under any pretence whatever until the cardinal himself had
examined into the affair. These orders were delivered in a loud
voice before the servants of the inn, but the officer privately
assured the innkeeper afterwards that he would be well paid for
his loss of custom, and that it was probable that the guard would
be removed in a day or two. Thus Beaufort's emissaries were not
able to obtain news of what was passing within, and did nothing
until past noon, when it occurred to them that the cardinal had
taken this strange step of closing the inn in order to prevent
its being known that Hector and his followers had left Paris.

Men were at once sent off to the different gates of the city, and
one of these returning with the news that the north gate had been
opened at one o'clock in the morning and that six men bearing a
pass from the cardinal had ridden out, a party of twenty horsemen
started out in pursuit, while others were ordered to ride by all
the different routes to Poitou, in case, as was likely enough,
Hector had ridden to his castle. The fugitive, however, and his
followers were all well mounted, and had fourteen hours' start.
They separated at Le Mans. Hector here wrote a long letter to the
Baronne de Blenfoix, and a shorter one to MacIntosh. The latter he
told only that his fief had again reverted to the crown, and gave
instructions that the steward should be ordered to return, from
the moneys he had in hand, three months' rent to every tenant, to
hand the balance to MacIntosh himself, and to hold possession of
the chateau and estate until he received orders from the cardinal
himself.