And then Mathilde spoke again, and her voice was terrible to hear. “I forbid you to touch that man!” And I heard no more. I descended to the court, where I found Rouletabille alone, seated upon the edge of the oubliette. I spoke to him, but he did not answer. I felt no surprise, for this had often happened of late. I went on into the outer court, and I saw M. Darzac coming toward me, evidently in the greatest excitement. Before I came up to him, he called out: “Did you see him?” “Yes, I saw him,” I replied. “And she--my wife--do you know whether she saw him?” “She saw him, too. She was with Rouletabille when he passed. What bravado the creature showed!” Robert Darzac was trembling like an aspen leaf from the shock which he had just experienced. He told me that as soon as he had caught sight of the boat and its passenger, he had rushed like a madman to the shore, but that before he had reached the Pointe de Garibaldi the bark had disappeared as if by enchantment. But even before he finished speaking, Darzac left me and hurried away to seek Mathilde, dreading the thought of the state of mind in which he felt that he would find her. But he returned almost immediately, gloomy and grieved. The door of his wife’s apartment was locked, and she had said to him that she wished to be alone for awhile. “And Rouletabille?” I asked. “I have not seen him.” We remained together upon the rampart gazing at the night which had carried Larsan away. Robert Darzac was infinitely sorrowful. In order to change the direction of his thoughts, I asked him a few questions regarding the Rance household. Here is in substance the information which I succeeded in extracting from him little by little: