Chapter XVI
The Impossible Struggle
In the terrible state of distress into which those last words threw him, Paul felt the need of some immediate action, even as he had done at the sight of the banquet given by Prince Conrad. Certainly, all hope was lost. His plan, which was to use the tunnel before the alarm was raised, his plan was shattered. Granting that he succeeded in finding Élisabeth and delivering her, a very unlikely contingency, at what moment would this take place? And how was he afterwards to escape the enemy and return to France?
No, henceforward space and time were both against him. His defeat was such that there was nothing for it but to resign himself and await the final blow.
And yet he did not flinch. He saw that any weakness would be irreparable. The impulse that ha
