I was too thoroughly alarmed to hesitate a moment longer, and forced the lock as quickly as I could with the tools that madame had at hand. When it gave way, we entered the anteroom, and crossing it, pushed on into the bedrooms beyond. They were silent and deserted; there were signs of recent occupation, but there was no one in either room. Madame ran ahead of me, and passing into the farther apartment, went to a curtained alcove, and pushing aside the hangings, uttered an exclamation. Following her, I saw that she had uncovered a secret door, a panel in the wall, and it was partially thrust aside. Without a word, she ran for a light and preceded me through the narrow aperture, down a crooked flight of stairs, evidently contrived to facilitate the escape of the occupants of these rooms. As we went, she held the light low down, that we might see the stairs, and I was forced to feel my way cautiously, for they were irregular, and extremely steep. Half-way down madame stopped and pointed, and seeing an object lying at her feet, I stooped and picked up a veil, which I recognized at once as the one worn by Zénaïde on the previous evening. This increased my alarm, and we moved on more cautiously. At the foot of the stairs was a door which was unlatched, and here madame stood aside, shielding her light from the draught, while I opened the door and found myself in a subterranean vault. A gust of air from the other side guided me to a half-opened trap-door, which I lifted, and looked out into the lane behind Von Gaden’s house. We had reached the end of our explorations, and it was not difficult to draw conclusions. I looked out; but there was no sign of any one, and on either side were the gray walls of the house and court. Madame von Gaden stood by the cellar door, shielding her light; neither of us had uttered a word, but each comprehended the other’s thought. I felt that madame suspected that her mysterious guests had departed of their own free will, while I knew that it could not be so, unless there had been some deception used. In any case, no time could be lost. I closed the trap, and madame, comprehending my conclusion, turned and led the way up the stairs, this time stopping to search each step with her light, but without result. Zénaïde’s veil, which was in my hand, was the only proof that she had descended the secret stairs. At the top I closed the panel, and madame, setting down the light, looked about with a kind of nervous apprehension; it was evident that she was terribly agitated and alarmed. If I had had any just cause to doubt her loyalty or her husband’s, it would have been removed by her manifest trepidation. I looked anxiously about the rooms, but there were absolutely no signs of violence; it seemed as if Mademoiselle Eudoxie and Zénaïde might have been quietly sitting there but a moment since. “Have you heard any sounds to alarm you?” I asked, thoroughly at sea.