“No matter. You do not know me. Hasten!”
“Then you shall not enter!” I said, and braced myself for the attack I thought must follow.
“You are wasting time,” he growled, and stamped with impatience. “On your head be it!”
“Why do you seek to enter?”
“I tell you I am a friend. I tell you I come to warn M. le Comte——”
“You told me nothing of the sort,” I broke in. “Again, who are you?”
“My name is Pasdeloup, and I swear that if you do not stand aside I will give you a taste of this knife.”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
“The gatekeeper?” I asked; and I remembered the glow of adoration which had lighted his countenance as he gazed after his master.
“The same,” he said impatiently. “Will you stand aside?”