of the hazy winter dawn. A wan light was just creeping up from the
east over the city; the noises of the streets below came distinctly to
Armand's ear.

He roused himself with one vigorous effort from his lethargy, feeling
quite ashamed of himself and of this breakdown of his nervous system.
He looked with frank admiration on Sir Percy, who stood immovable and
silent by the window--a perfect tower of strength, serene and impassive,
yet kindly in distress.

"Percy," said the young man, "I ran all the way from the top of the Rue
St. Honore. I was only breathless. I am quite all right. May I tell you
all about it?"

Without a word Blakeney closed the window and came across to the sofa;
he sat down beside Armand, and to all outward appearances he was nothing
now but a kind and sympathetic listener to a friend's tale of woe. Not
a line in his face or a look in his eyes betrayed the thoughts of the
leader who had been thwarted at the outset of a dangerous enterprise, or
of the man, accustomed to command, who had been so flagrantly disobeyed.

Armand, unconscious of all save of Jeanne and of her immediate need, put
an eager hand on Percy's arm.

"Heron and his hell-hounds went back to her lodgings last night," he
said, speaking as if he were still a little out of breath. "They hoped
to get me, no doubt; not finding me there, they took her. Oh, my God!"

It was the first time that he had put the whole terrible circumstance
into words, and it seemed to gain in reality by the recounting. The
agony of mind which he endured was almost unbearable; he hid his face in
his hands lest Percy should see how terribly he suffered.

"I knew that," said Blakeney quietly. Armand looked up in surprise.

"How? When did you know it?" he stammered.

"Last night when you left me. I went down to the Square du Roule. I
arrived there just too late."

"Percy!" exclaimed Armand, whose pale face had suddenly flushed scarlet,
"you did that?--last night you--"

"Of course," interposed the other calmly; "had I not promised you to
keep watch over her? When I heard the news it was already too late to
make further inquiries, but when you arrived just now I was on the point
of starting out, in order to find out in what prison Mademoiselle Lange
is being detained. I shall have to go soon, Armand, before the guard is
changed at the Temple and the Tuileries. This is the safest time, and
God knows we are all of us sufficiently compromised already."