CHAPTERVII
AFORESTNOOK
Abreachhasalwaysacauseandapurpose。HereistheexplanationofhowtheonewhichledfromthetowercalledthatofMademoiselleandthestablescametobemade。AfterhisinstallationasLaurence’sguardianatCinq-Cygneoldd’Hauteserreconvertedalongravine，throughwhichthewateroftheforestflowedintothemoat，intoaroadwaybetweentwotractsofuncultivatedlandbelongingtothechateau，bymerelyplantingoutinitaboutahundredwalnuttreeswhichhefoundreadyinthenursery。Inelevenyearsthesetreeshadgrownandbranchedsoastonearlycovertheroad，hiddenalreadybysteepbanks，whichranintoalittlewoodofthirtyacresrecentlypurchased。Whenthechateauhaditsfullcomplementofinhabitantstheyallpreferredtotakethiscoveredwaythroughthebreachtothemainroadwhichskirtedtheparkwallsandledtothefarm，ratherthangoroundbytheentrance。Bydintofthususingitthebreachinthesidesofthemoathadgraduallybeenwidenedonbothsides，withallthelessscruplebecauseinthisnineteenthcenturyofoursmoatsarenolongeroftheslightestuse，andLaurence’sguardianhadoftentalkedofputtingthisonetosomeotherpurpose。Theconstantcrumblingawayoftheearthandstonesandgravelhadendedbyfillinguptheditch，sothatonlyafterheavyrainswasthecausewaythusconstructedcovered。Butthebankwasstillsosteepthatitwasdifficulttomakeahorsedescendit，andevenmoredifficulttogethimupuponthemainroad。Horses，however，seemintimesofperiltosharetheirmasters’thought。
WhiletheyoungcountesswashesitatingtofollowMarthe，andaskingexplanations，Michu，fromhisvantage-groundwatchedtheclosinginofthegendarmesandunderstoodtheirplan。Hegrewdesperateastimewentbyandthecountessdidnotcometohim。Asquadofgendarmesweremarchingalongtheparkwallandstationingthemselvesassentinels，eachmanbeingnearenoughtocommunicatewiththoseoneithersideofthem，byvoiceandeye。Michu，lyingflatonhisstomach，hiseartoearth，gauged，likearedIndian，bythestrengthofthesoundsthetimethatremainedtohim。
\"Icametoolate！\"hesaidtohimself。\"Violetteshallpaydearforthis！whatatimeittooktomakehimdrunk！Whatcanbedone？\"