第31章 AN EMPTY ROOM.(3)

And I could not think little of the sign.Remembering mademoiselle's proud and fearless spirit,and the light in which she had always regarded me,I augured the worst from it.I felt assured that no imaginary danger and no emergency save the last would have induced her to stoop so low;and this consideration,taken with the fear I felt that she had fallen into the hands of Fresnoy,whom I believed to be the person who had robbed me of the gold coin,filled me with a horrible doubt which way my duty lay.I was pulled,as it were,both ways.I felt my honour engaged both to go and to stay,and while my hand went to my hilt,and my feet trembled to be gone,my eyes sought my mother,and my ears listened for her gentle breathing.

Perplexed and distracted,I looked at the student,and he at me.

'You saw the man who took her away,'I muttered.Hitherto,in my absorption on my mother's account,I had put few questions,and let the matter pass as though it moved me little and concerned me less.'What was he like?Was he a big,bloated man,Simon,with his head bandaged,or perhaps a wound on his face?'

'The gentleman who went away with mademoiselle,do you mean?'he asked.

'Yes,yes,gentleman if you like!'

'Not at all,'the student answered.'He was a tall young gallant,very gaily dressed,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.Denys,M.de Marsac?Well,go down it,keeping the "Bleeding Heart"on your left.Take the second turning on the same side after passing the inn.The third house from the corner,on the left again,consists of a gateway leading to the Hospital of the Holy Cross.Above the gateway are two windows in the lower story,and above them two more.The knot lay below the first window you come to.Do you understand?'

'Perfectly,'I said.'It is something to be a clerk,Simon.'

He looked at me thoughtfully,but added nothing;and I was busy tightening my sword-hilt,and disposing my cloak about the lower part of my face.When I had arranged this to my satisfaction,Itook out and counted over the sum of thirty-five crowns,which Igave to him,impressing on him the necessity of staying beside my mother should I not return;for though I proposed to reconnoitre only,and learn if possible whether mademoiselle was still in Blois,the future was uncertain,and whereas I was known to my enemies,they were strangers to me.

Having enjoined this duty upon him,I bade my mother a silent farewell,and,leaving the room,went slowly down the stairs,the picture of her worn and patient face going with me,and seeming,I remember,to hallow the purpose I had in my mind.