Juliette seemed to wake as if from a dream. She looked down at Anne Mie with a glance of hope, almost of joy, and whispered:
"It was an oath—I swore it to my father and my dead brother. Tell him."
Anne Mie could only nod; she could not speak, for her tears were choking her.
"But I'll atone—with my life. Tell him," whispered Juliette.
"Now then," shouted Merlin, "out of the way, hunchback, unless you want to come along too."
"Forgive me," said Anne Mie through her tears.
Then the men pushed her roughly aside. But at the door Juliette turned to her once more, and said:
"Pétronelle—take care of her ..."
And with a firm step she followed the soldiers out of the room.
Presently the front door was heard to open, then to shut with a loud bang, and the house in the Rue Ecole de Médecine was left in silence.