“You have given us a terrible fright, M. de Brousson,” the latter remarked, a look of intense relief coming over his face at the sight of me. “I hoped you would find me sooner,” I exclaimed, casting a glance that was not without rebuke at Pierrot. “I did not know your errand, M. le Vicomte,” he returned stolidly; “if I had, I should not have waited for orders.” “It was my fault,” protested Von Gaden; “I did not want Ramodanofsky to come here, and I counted confidently on your ability to execute your mission.” “Too confidently, M. le Docteur,” I said dryly; “I have proved myself but a fool. But we have no time to lose. Come, mademoiselle, you will be glad to be out of this cage.” “You have found her?” exclaimed Von Gaden, eagerly; but his face fell at the sight of Mademoiselle Eudoxie, who came out in a state of collapse. As we ascended the stairs, I recounted to him briefly all that she had told me. I found, to my chagrin, that they had no tidings, having apparently waited for me. Von Gaden told me that when I did not return, Ramodanofsky came back, after having been out on a search for Homyak, and that they had come together to the house, and found Vladimir, as I had left him, on the floor. The serfs had evidently discovered him before their arrival, and fled in fear of being accused of murder; for, although the doors of the apartment had been forced open, the body had not been disturbed, and the doctor said that the cups still stood on the table with the untouched dish of caviare. We did not go into the room, for when we reached the large hall, we found Feodor Sergheievitch pacing up and down with a gloomy face. What strange thoughts must have been his that night! I noticed at once that he wore the full uniform of the Streltsi, and was completely armed. I presented him to Mademoiselle Eudoxie, and he met her with more kindness than I had imagined him capable of displaying. I saw her looking at his scarred and drawn face with an expression of awe; but she felt, too, his courteous acknowledgment of her care of his daughter. We were all too troubled about Zénaïde, however, to think of anything else. “The city is in a tumult to-night,” Von Gaden remarked; “there have been small riots in several quarters, and we cannot move too quickly. Mademoiselle, will you return to my house with me?” Both Ramodanofsky and I saw her look of horror, and the boyar solved the difficulty. “If mademoiselle will return to her rooms here for the present, I shall be grateful,” he said. “Two of my men are here, and will stay to guard her, and she can be ready to receive my daughter at any moment.” Mademoiselle knew nothing of the body still lying in the closed room, and decided to remain, being unable to conquer her aversion to Von Gaden’s house. As soon as she was safely installed, we separated, each to prosecute the search, Pierrot following me. We were walking away from the house alone when he caught up with me.