What M. de Chalusse desired was a vessel ready for
sea, and the bark which the valet had chartered now came up to the
quay. Our carriage was put on board, we went below, and before
daybreak we were under way.
"Three days later we were in Genoa, registered under a false name
in a second class hotel. While we were on the open sea, the count
had seemed to be less agitated, but now he was far from calm, and
the precautions he took proved that he still feared pursuit. A
malefactor flying from justice could not have taken greater pains
to mislead the detectives on his track. And facts proved
conclusively that I was the sole cause of the count's
apprehension. On one occasion I even heard him discussing with
his valet the feasibility of clothing me in masculine attire. And
it was only the difficulty of obtaining a suitable costume that
prevented him from carrying this project into execution. I ought
to mention, however, that the servant did not share his master's
anxiety, for three or four times I overheard him saying: 'The
count is too good to worry himself so much about such bad stock.
Besides, she won't overtake us. It isn't certain that she has
even followed us. How can she know anything about it?' She! Who
was she? This is what I racked my brain to discover, but without
success. I must confess, monsieur, that being of a practical
nature, and not in the least degree romantic, I arrived at the
conclusion that the peril chiefly existed in the count's
imagination, or that he greatly exaggerated it.
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