Because he never could be more....
Those few last hours in the chateau passed swiftly enough, most of them
in making plans for his "escape," something which demanded a deal of
puzzling over maps and railway guides in the seclusion of his room.
Since the next noon must find Andre Duchemin a criminal published and
proscribed, he had need to utilise every shred of cunning at his
command if he were to reach Paris without being arrested and without
undue loss of time.
To take a train at Millau would be simply to invite pursuit; for that
was the likeliest point an escaping criminal would strike for, a
stopping place for all trains north and southbound. Telegraphic advices
would cause every such train to be searched to a certainty.
Furthermore, Lanyard had no desire to enter Paris by the direct route
from Millau. Not the police alone, but others, enemies even more
dangerous, might be expecting him by that route.
On the other hand, the nearest railway station, Combe-Redonde, was
equally out of the question, since to gain it one must pass through
Nant, where Andre Duchemin was known, and risk being seen, while at
Combe-Redonde itself the station people would be apt to remember the
monsieur who had recently created a sensation by despatching a code
telegram to London.
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