"Is a royalist leader——"
"An assassin!"
"A tool of the Duc d'Orléans."
"The Duke would never stoop to wholesale murder! Never!"
"It is the way of kings, n'est-ce pas? to shelter themselves from responsibility behind their tools?"
"Stop! there must be guns for this ammunition. It must be——"
Before the idea had fairly germinated in his brain Jean discovered a door that in the candle-light had easily escaped their observation. It was at the opposite side of the room from which they had entered. It was a narrow door and the key was in the lock.
"Another way out," suggested the girl.
"Surely, petite, since that closet entrance was never meant for a porte-cochère."
The door opened upon a narrow and dark passage paved with worn tiles. At the end of this passage another door barred the way. An examination showed at once that this last had not been used for a long time. To the left, however, a mere slit in the stone was seen to involve a steep stair of very much worn steps. Opposite the entrance to this stairway was a shallow niche in the wall, in which were the remains of burned candles.