No one would be spared if it
became necessary to bombard; the rejection of his offer of mercy would
be taken as a sign that the defenders were ready to die for a lost
cause. He would cheerfully see to it that they died as quickly as
possible, in order that the course of government might not be obstructed
any longer than necessary.
The defenders of the Castle tore his message in two and sent it back to
him without disfiguring it by a single word in reply. The scornful
laughter which greeted the reading of the document by Count Halfont did
not lose any of its force in the report that the truce-bearers carried,
with considerable uneasiness, to the Iron Count later on.
No one in the Castle was deceived by Marlanx's promise to provide safe
conduct for the Prince. They knew that the boy was doomed if he fell
into the hands of this iniquitous old schemer. More than that, there was
not a heart among them so faint that it was not confident of eventual
victory over the usurper. They could hold out for weeks against
starvation. Hope is an able provider.
A single, distant volley at sunset had puzzled the men on guard at the
Castle. They had no means of knowing that the Committee of Ten and its
wretched friends had been shot down like dogs in the Public Square.
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