The weather was cold and dismal. A fine but steady rain made the streets of Paris very slippery where they were paved, and even more dangerous were those very numerous ones that had no pavements. At ten o'clock at night, in November, and in cold and rainy weather, one met very few people abroad. However, the famous Giovanni had ceased some time before to molest belated wayfarers, and people were beginning to hope that he had left Paris. At a few minutes before ten, a man entered Place Royale, sheltering himself as well as he could in a cloak of greater breadth than length. "What a curious predilection the marchioness has for this square!" he said to himself. "What a strange idea always to select it for her place of rendezvous! But I trust that this is the last one that she will give me here. She must consent to come to my _petite maison_. There we shall have no surprises to dread; there are secret exits which put one out of reach of any possible danger." Having arrived at one of the arcades which surrounded the square, and being sheltered from the rain there, Léodgard let his cloak fall back, and raised his hat brim so that it covered his face less. Then, casting his eyes about the square, which was deserted, and at its dark arcades, he continued: "The place is decidedly ill chosen for an amorous rendezvous. But Valentine will probably send her messenger, young Miretta--Miretta! yes, that is surely the name; and judging from what she told me, she is the person! What a strange meeting! If that girl suspected!--Ah! I must banish that ghastly memory!--How dismal this square is to-night! Really, this spot would be much better suited for a meeting between two gallant men armed with swords or daggers!--But is not this the place?--Yes, it was at the entrance to Rue des Tournelles, where one side of the park then came to an end--I have often been told the story--this is the very spot where Maugiron, Quélus, and Livarot fought at five o'clock in the morning, in April, 1578. Their adversaries were D'Entragues, Schomberg, and Ribérac. This square was not then laid out, and from the top of the towers of the Bastille one could watch the whole combat.--Ah! that triple duel was a glorious battle! Maugiron, Schomberg, and Ribérac lost their lives.--But that is the fitting death for a gentleman to die!--Those were the good times!--The king, far from forbidding duels, was foremost in encouraging them; whereas to-day the cardinal is terribly severe. The Bastille, aye, death sometimes, for those who fight, who disobey his edicts. And when he has said the word, Richelieu is inflexible! How he looked at me at that fête at the Prince de Valdimer's!--Was he thinking of my father, whom he esteems highly, they say? Or was it---- That look upset me completely. That man knows so many things!"