"Would you, really? Ah, well, I shall ask no such heroic sacrifice as that on your part, my dear duke."
A few minutes afterward, Madame Zomaloff, her aunt, and the duke left the Hôtel Saint-Ramon.
Almost at the same instant the stranger who looked so much like an aged mulatto left the palatial dwelling, bewildered by what he had just seen and heard. The clock in a neighbouring church was striking the hour as he descended the steps.
"Half-past eleven!" the old man murmured. "I have plenty of time to reach Chaillot before midnight. Ah, what other strange things am I about to hear?"
CHAPTER XX.
THE RETURN.
The old man climbed the hill leading to the Rue de Chaillot, and soon reached the church of that poor and densely populated faubourg.
Contrary to custom at that hour, the church was lighted. Through the open door the brilliantly illuminated nave and altar could be plainly seen. Though the edifice was still empty, some solemn ceremony was evidently about to take place, for though midnight was close at hand, there were lights in many of the neighbouring houses, and several groups had assembled on the pavement in front of the church. Approaching one of these groups, the old man listened attentively, and heard the following conversation:
"They will be here soon, now."
"Yes, for it is almost midnight."
"It is a strange hour to be married, isn't it?"