But a confused distant sound suddenly struck upon her ears: little by little it drew nearer, voices were more distinctly heard; women in the street were uttering cries of distress-- "Fly, fly! God has forsaken us; the Hungarians are in the town!" The tears of Marie's children were the answer to these cries; and little Margaret, raising her hands to her mother, expressed her fear in speech that was far beyond her years.

Renaud, without one look at this touching picture, drew his son towards the door.
"Stay," said the princess, extending her hand with a solemn gesture: "as God sends no other aid to my children, it is His will that the sacrifice be accomplished." She fell on her knees before the priest, bending her head like a victim who offers her neck to the executioner.

Robert des Baux took his place beside her, and the priest pronounced the formula that united them for ever, consecrating the infamous deed by a sacrilegious blessing.
"All is over!" murmured Marie of Durazzo, looking tearfully on her little daughters.
"No, all is not yet over," said the admiral harshly, pushing her towards another room; "before we leave, the marriage must be consummated." "O just God!" cried the princess, in a voice torn with anguish, and she fell swooning to the floor.
Renaud des Baux directed his ships towards Marseilles, where he hoped to get his son crowned Count of Provence, thanks to his strange marriage with Marie of Durazzo.

But this cowardly act of treason was not to go unpunished.

The wind rose with fury, and drove him towards Gaeta, where the queen and her husband had just arrived.