"There, there, again, look! But this time it is not a cat—it is he, Uaenra! Do you see what a face he has—worn out, old, eternal. If a man had suffered for a thousand years in hell and then came back again, he would have a face like that ... he looks at me and laughs—he knows I want to kill him but he thinks I won't dare.... But wait a bit, I'll show you!"
He staggered and almost fell. They all rushed to him and would have bled him, but he had already recovered. His face was almost calm; only the corners of his mouth quivered and his lips were twisted into a smile.
All of a sudden there was a frantic squealing and howling outside the window; the leaves rustled and something fell into the water with a heavy splash.
They all ran to the ground floor hall which gave on to the garden and saw the cat floating on the water with its belly ripped open.
"It's a bad business," Ay said.
"Why!" Merira asked.
"Someone has been eavesdropping."
"What of it?"
"What of it? Why, he will tell the king."
"Let him. I know the king better than you do: he might hear with his own ears, see with his own eyes and yet not believe. He would hand the spy over to us."