'Oh, no,' said her attendant, who trembled excessively; 'there are no torches and no musketeers; 'tis not his Majesty.'
'Away, my friend,' said the Countess, clasping her hands; and while the masked lady retired in evident alarm, I laid hand on my sword.
'Can my brother have come here at this untimeous hour?' muttered the Countess, as a servant entered with a hurried and disordered air.
'Ah, Madame la Comtesse——'
'Mon Dieu! what is the matter? Speak, Antoine—speak!'
'Your brother, madame—M. le Chevalier d'Ische—has this moment been brought hither in a fiacre almost dead, having fought with a brigand on the Quai de la Grève, and been run through the body!'
'My brother!' exclaimed Madame d'Amboise, growing pale as a lily, and turning her eyes wildly upon me; and at that moment, when I saw a wounded man borne by four servants past an opening in the parted arras, I felt as if the earth was yawning beneath my feet.
So ended my first night in the city of Paris!