“No one, monsieur.”
“That is impossible! Some one must have been here.”
“No one could possibly have entered, monsieur, since the keys have never left my pocket.”
“And yet I find the letter in yonder lock; some one must have put it there; it could not have come here of its own accord.”
Basque opened his arms as if signifying the most absolute ignorance on the subject.
“Probably it was M. de Bragelonne himself who placed it there,” said Porthos.
“In that case he must have entered here.”
“How could that have been, since I have the key in my own pocket?” returned Basque, perseveringly.
Saint-Aignan crumpled the letter in his palm, after having read it. “There is something mysterious about this,” he murmured, absorbed in thought. Porthos left him to his reflections; but after a while returned to the mission he had undertaken.
“Shall we return to our little affair?” Porthos resumed, addressing Saint-Aignan after a brief pause.