Then he began to feel a little uneasy. What if the Empire should
unhappily have been established without his aid? What if Sicardot,
Garconnet, and Peirotte, instead of being arrested and led away by
the insurrectionary band, had shut the rebels up in prison? A cold
perspiration broke out over him, and he went on his way again, hoping
that Felicite would give him some accurate information. He now pushed on
more rapidly, and was skirting the houses of the Rue de la Banne, when a
strange spectacle, which caught his eyes as he raised his head, riveted
him to the ground. One of the windows of the yellow drawing-room was
brilliantly illuminated, and, in the glare, he saw a dark form, which he
recognized as that of his wife, bending forward, and shaking its arms in
a violent manner. He asked himself what this could mean, but, unable to
think of any explanation, was beginning to feel seriously alarmed, when
some hard object bounded over the pavement at his feet. Felicite had
thrown him the key of the cart-house, where he had concealed a supply
of muskets. This key clearly signified that he must take up arms. So he
turned away again, unable to comprehend why his wife had prevented him
from going upstairs, and imagining the most horrible things.
He now went straight to Roudier, whom he found dressed and ready to
march, but completely ignorant of the events of the night. Roudier lived
at the far end of the new town, as in a desert, whither no tidings of
the insurgents' movements had penetrated.
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