It made us nervous and restless to look at each other, seated around the table, mute, leaning forward, wearing our black spectacles, behind which it was as impossible to read our eyes as our thoughts 167 The Plan of the inhabited floor of the Square Tower 183 He fled from us and rushed further into the night, shrieking aloud, “The perfume of the Lady in Black! The perfume of the Lady in Black!” 203 His eyes seemed glued to his drawing. They never moved from the paper 234 Rouletabille examined the barrel of Darzac’s revolver and then compared the weapon with the other which he held 242 It was Bernier! It was Bernier who lay there, the death rattle in his throat and a stream of blood flowing from his breast 302 Ah! That profile standing out darkly from the depths of the embrasure, lighted up by the red glow of the setting sun 332 Rouletabille advanced toward him: “Larsan,” he said, “Larsan, do you give yourself up?” But Larsan did not reply 352 The Perfume of the Lady in Black CHAPTER I WHICH BEGINS WHERE MOST ROMANCES END The marriage of M. Robert Darzac and Mlle. Mathilde Stangerson took place in Paris, at the Church of St. Nicolas du Chardonnet, on April 6th, 1895, everything connected with the occasion being conducted in the quietest fashion possible. A little more than two years had rolled by since the events which I have recorded in a previous volume--events so sensational that it is not speaking too strongly to say that an even longer lapse of time would not have sufficed to blot out the memory of the famous “Mystery of the Yellow Room.” There was no doubt in the minds of those concerned that, if the arrangements for the wedding had not been made almost secretly, the little church would have been thronged and surrounded by a curious crowd, eager to gaze upon the principal personages of the drama which had aroused an interest almost world wide and the circumstances of which were still present in the minds of the sensation-loving public. But in this isolated little corner of the city, in this almost unknown parish, it was easy enough to maintain the utmost privacy. Only a few friends of M. Darzac and Professor Stangerson, on whose discretion they felt assured that they might rely, had been invited. I had the honor to be one of the number.