“Here we are,” said M. le Comte. Then there came the click of a latch, the creaking of rusty hinges, and a gust of cold air rushed out upon us. We pressed forward into the black pit beyond. The door clanged shut behind us, and at the same instant a shot rang out and I heard the pang of a bullet as it struck the iron. “Just a breath too late!” said M. le Comte with a grim laugh and dropped the great bars into place. “They will not soon get past this door,” he added, as we stopped to take breath. “It is as solid as the wall itself. We are safe for a time at least.” “You are there, Charlotte?” asked madame’s voice. “You are safe?” “Yes, madame,” answered my companion. “M. de Tavernay has taken good care of me.” She gently drew away from me, but left her hand in mine. “I hope you will leave her in my care, madame,” I said. “It is a welcome trust.” “So your spirits survive even this misfortune, monsieur?” “Oh, madame,” I answered, “they would survive much greater ones if--if only----” “Well?” she prompted, “if?--continue, monsieur.” “If only I might choose the persons with whom to endure them,” I said boldly. “You are right, Tavernay!” cried M. le Comte. “So long as a man has beside him the woman he loves he can face the world with a cheerful heart. But come, let us ascend to the platform.” We mounted after him, stumbling up the stairs, one flight, two flights, three. To guide her steps in the darkness I ventured again to slip my arm about my companion’s waist. “You heard?” I whispered. “You are not angry that I permitted them to guess?” “No,” she answered softly, and with a strange little laugh. “Perhaps they had already guessed. Besides, I do not think I shall ever be angry with you again, M. de Tavernay.” “Ah, you love me!--you love me, then!” I whispered, rapturously, and drew her still closer to me. “Not now, my friend!” she protested, tremulously. “I beg of you, not now! Do not forget your promise.” “I shall not,” I assured her; and we mounted in silence. Only when we came out into the moonlight at the top did she draw away from me and fling herself into the arms of madame, who embraced her tenderly and kissed her again and again. The tower was battlemented, so that we could look down upon the château and the grounds surrounding it without danger of being seen by any one below. As M. le Comte and I peered down together I was suddenly conscious of some one else beside me, and turned to see that it was Pasdeloup. In the stress of flight I had quite forgotten him. With a little feeling of remorse I held out my hand and gripped his great rough one silently, then turned again to a contemplation of the scene below. But down there all was dark and silent. Not a candle gleamed from the windows; not a sound disturbed the silence of the night. It seemed almost that there had been no attack--that it was all a dream--a fancy--that we had fled from shadows.