"Courage, my lady," said Isidore.
"It is not courage I lack so much as strength. Oh, heaven, will I never get my breath again," she gasped.
Isidore paused, for he knew that the second wind she panted was necessary to her as to the hunted deer.
"Take breath, madam," he said: "we have time, for my brother would wait till daylight for your sake."
"Then you believe that he loves me?" she exclaimed rashly as quickly while pressing his arm against her breast.
"I believe that his life is yours as mine is, and that the feeling in others which is love and respect becomes adoration in him."
"Thanks," she said, "that does me good! I breathe again. On, on!"
With a feverish step, she retraced the path they had gone and they went out by the small gate of the Carrousel. The large open space was till midnight covered with stalls and prowling cabs. But it was now deserted and gloomy.
Suddenly they heard a great din of carriages and horses. They saw a light: no doubt the flambeaux accompanying the vehicles.