‘One only,’ I said, seeing it all clearly enough. ‘Will you tell me, please, exactly where you found it?’ ‘I have told you. In the Ruelle d’Arcy, ten paces from the Rue de Valois. Now, sir, will you go?’ ‘One word, madame. Did--’ But she cried, ‘Go, sir, go! go!’ so violently, that after making one more attempt to express my thanks, I thought it better to obey her. I had learned all she knew; I had solved the puzzle. But, solving it, I found myself no nearer to the end I had in view, no nearer to mademoiselle. I closed the door with a silent bow, and began to descend the stairs, my mind full of anxious doubts and calculations. The velvet knot was the only clue I possessed, but was I right; in placing any dependence on it? I knew now that, wherever it had originally lain, it had been removed once. If once, why not twice? why not three times? CHAPTER IX. THE HOUSE IN THE RUELLE D’ARCY. I had not gone down half a dozen steps before I heard a man enter the staircase from the street, and begin to ascend. It struck me at once that this might be M. de Bruhl; and I realised that I had not left madame’s apartment a moment too soon. The last thing I desired, having so much on my hands, was to embroil myself with a stranger, and accordingly I quickened my pace, hoping to meet him so near the foot of the stairs as to leave him in doubt whether I had been visiting the upper or lower part of the house. The staircase was dark, however, and being familiar with it, he had the advantage over me. He came leaping up two steps at a time, and turning the angle abruptly, surprised me before I was clear of the upper flight. On seeing me, he stopped short and stared; thinking at first, I fancy, that he ought to recognise me. When he did not, he stood back a pace. ‘Umph!’ he said. ‘Have you been--have you any message for me, sir?’ ‘No,’ I said, ‘I have not.’ He frowned. ‘I am M. de Bruhl,’ he said. ‘Indeed?’ I muttered, not knowing what else to say. ‘You have been--’ ‘Up your stairs, sir? Yes. In error,’ I answered bluntly. He gave a kind of grunt at that, and stood aside, incredulous and dissatisfied, yet uncertain how to proceed. I met his black looks with a steady countenance, and passed by him, becoming aware, however, as I went on down the stairs that he had turned and was looking after me. He was a tall, handsome man, dark, and somewhat ruddy of complexion, and was dressed in the extreme of Court fashion, in a suit of myrtle-green trimmed with sable. He carried also a cloak lined with the same on his arm. Beyond looking back when I reached the street, to see that he did not follow me, I thought no more of him. But we were to meet again, and often. Nay, had I then known all that was to be known I would have gone back and--But of that in another place.