"Forward, comrades!" Herrick said when he had gone. "They must be eagerly awaiting our news in Vayenne."
Some hours later a solitary and queer-looking horseman met them. The animal had been ridden hard, the man was bare-headed and unkempt, and green and scarlet showed from under his disordered and dusty cloak. There was a strange, low jingling of bells as he came.
"Where is the Duke?" he cried as he met the foremost ranks.
"Jean! What is it? What is the news?"
"Ay, Jean it is. Where is the Duke?"
"Yonder. What has happened?"
But the dwarf stayed to answer no questions. He pressed forward to Herrick.
"Jean! What is it?"
"Treachery and rebellion in the city. The gates are closed against you, and Mademoiselle is to be Duchess, and marries Count Felix."
"When?"