The spell broken, Chaytor jumped up in fury, and looked after her retreating form. Turning to Gilbert, he cried:
"The girl has lost her senses. Is there insanity in your family, M. Gilbert Bidaud?"
"We were ever remarkable," replied Gilbert, in a more serious tone than that in which he generally spoke, "for well-balanced brains. It is that which has kept us always on the safe side, which has enabled us to swim while others sink. Instead of losing her senses, Annette, perhaps, has come to them. I give you my honest word, there crept into my mind, while you were playing that silent scene with her, a profound admiration for the young lady, my niece. She has qualities of the Bidaud type; I pay her tribute." He bowed towards the door, half mockingly, half admiringly.
"I don't want your honest word," cried Chaytor in wrath and fear, for it dawned upon him that the ally upon whom he reckoned might declare himself against him. "I want your plain meaning."
"You shall have it," said Gilbert; "but as walls have ears, and there may be danger--to you and not to me--in what you force me to say, I propose that we adjourn to the lodge by the gates, where we may exchange confidences in safety."
He led the way to the grounds, and Chaytor followed him, as a whipped dog follows its master.
[CHAPTER XLII.]
The lodge to which Gilbert Bidaud referred stood close to the gates through which entrance was obtained to the house and grounds. It contained four rooms, two above and two below, and was furnished for residence. There were times when Gilbert himself occupied it, and it was always kept ready for him, the two rooms below affording him all the accommodation he required. Between these two rooms ran a narrow passage, at the back end of which was a door, but seldom used, leading out to the grounds. A staircase at the side of this passage led to the rooms above.
Gilbert Bidaud and Newman Chaytor had arrived at the villa late in the day, and it was now night. Dark clouds had gathered, obscuring moon and stars.
"There will be a storm before sunrise," said Gilbert, as they reached the front door of the lodge, which he unlocked and threw open. "Enter, my dear friend."