sed, dark-haired, and with a rich complexion, I heard him tell
her that he came from a friend of hers too high to be named in public
or in Blois. He added that he brought a token from him; and when
mademoiselle mentioned you--she had just entered madame's room with her
woman when he appeared--'

'He had watched me out, of course.'

'Just so. Well, when she mentioned you, he swore you were an adventurer,
and a beggarly impostor, and what not, and bade her say whether she
thought it likely that her friend would have entrusted such a mission to
such a man.'

'And then she went with him?'

The student nodded.

'Readily? Of her own free-will?'

'Certainly,' he answered. 'It seemed so to me. She tried to prevent him
speaking before your mother, but that was all.'

On the impulse of the moment I took a step towards the door;
recollecting my position, I turned back with a groan. Almost beside
myself, and longing for any vent for my feelings, I caught the lad by
the shoulder, where he stood on the hearth, and shook him to and fro.

'Tell me, man, what am I to do?' I said between my teeth. 'Speak! think!
invent something!'

But he shook his head.

I let him go with a muttered oath, and sat down on a stool by the bed
and took my head between my hands. At that very moment, however, relief
came--came from an unexpected quarter. The door opened and the leech
entered. He was a skilful man, and, though much employed about the
Court, a Huguenot--a fact which had emboldened Simon Fleix to apply to
him through the landlord of the 'Bleeding Heart,' the secret rendezvous
of the Religion in Blois. When he had made his examination he was for
leaving, being a grave and silent man, and full of business, but at the
door I stopped him.

'Well, sir?' I said in a low tone, my hand on his cloak.

'She has rallied, and may live three days,' he answered quietly. 'Four,
it may be, and as many more as God wills.'

Pressing two crowns into his hand, I begged him to call daily, which he
promised to do; and then he went. My mother was still dozing peacefully,
and I turned to Simon Fleix, my doubts resolved and my mind made up.

'Listen,' I said, 'and answer me shortly. We cannot both leave; that is
certain. Yet I must go, and at once, to the place where you found the
velvet knot. Do you describe the spot exactly, so that I may find it,
and make no mistake.'

He nodded, and after a moment's reflection answered,

'You know the Rue St. De