"And we hope nothing has occurred to alter your opinion, sir?" said the hall porter. "You are sure Mr. Rougemont is gone?" cried Auriol. "Oh, quite sure, sir," cried the hall porter. "I helped him on with his cloak myself. He said he should return this day week." "If he comes I will not see him," cried Auriol sharply; "mind that. Deny me to him; and on no account whatever let him enter the house." "Your orders shall be strictly obeyed," replied the porter, staring with surprise. "Now leave me," cried Auriol. And as they quitted him, he added, in a tone and with a gesture of the deepest despair, "All precautions are useless. I am indeed lost!" CHAPTER III IRRESOLUTION On returning to the cabinet, where his fatal compact with Rougemont had been signed, Auriol perceived the pocket-book lying on the floor near the table, and, taking it up, he was about to deposit it in the writing-desk, when an irresistible impulse prompted him once more to examine its contents. Unfolding the roll of notes, he counted them, and found they amounted to more than a hundred thousand pounds. The sight of so much wealth, and the thought of the pleasure and the power it would procure him, gradually dispelled his fears, and arising in a transport of delight, he exclaimed--"Yes, yes--all obstacles are now removed! When Mr. Talbot finds I am become thus wealthy, he will no longer refuse me his daughter. But I am mad," he added, suddenly checking himself--"worse than mad, to indulge such hopes. If it be indeed the Fiend to whom I have sold myself, I have no help from perdition! If it be man, I am scarcely less terribly fettered. In either case, I will not remain here longer; nor will I avail myself of this accursed money, which has tempted me to my undoing." And, hurling the pocket-book to the farther end of the room, he was about to pass through the door, when a mocking laugh arrested him. He looked round with astonishment and dread, but could see no one. After a while, he again moved forward, but a voice, which he recognised as that of Rougemont, called upon him to stay. "It will be in vain to fly," said the unseen speaker. "You cannot escape me. Whether you remain here or not--whether you use the wealth I have given you, or leave it behind you--you cannot annul your bargain. With this knowledge, you are at liberty to go. But remember, on the seventh night from this I shall require Edith Talbot from you!" "Where are you, fiend?" demanded Auriol, gazing around furiously. "Show yourself, that I may confront you." A mocking laugh was the only response deigned to this injunction. "Give me back the compact," cried Auriol imploringly. "It was signed in ignorance. I knew not the price I was to pay for your assistance. Wealth is of no value to me without Edith."