Above, in that obscure, gloomy corridor to which they now entered--the corridor which more than once had struck a chill even to the bold heart of Julian Ritherdon, when he sojourned in the house--all was silent and sombre, so that one might have thought that they stood upon the first floor of some long-neglected mansion from which the inhabitants had departed years before; while the darkness was intense. And, whatever might have been the effect of the weirdness of the place upon the nerves of Zara, strung up as those nerves now were to tragic pitch, upon Beatrix, at least, it was intense. A great black bat, the wind from whose passing wing fanned her cheek and caused her to utter a startled exclamation, added some feeling of ghastly terror to the surroundings, while, also, the company in which she was, the company of a half-Indian savage girl charged with tempestuous passions, contributed to her alarm.
Yet, on the silence there broke now some sounds, they coming from the front part of the house; the sound of voices, of a hurried conversation, of sentences rapidly exchanged.
"You hear," hissed Zara in the other's ear--"you hear--and understand? 'Tis she--Carmaux. And, as ever, she lies. As her life has always been, so is her tongue now."
Then Beatrix heard Madame Carmaux saying from the balcony:
"He has returned. He is coming, I tell you. But just now he has ridden to the stables behind. He will be with you at once. He will explain all. Wait but a few moments more."
"It must be but a very few then," the girl heard in reply, she recognising the voice of the Commandant of the Constabulary. "Very few. He must indeed explain all. Otherwise we force our entrance. Not more than five minutes will be granted."
"You understand?" whispered Zara, "you understand? She begs time so that--so that--the Englishman shall be taken to his death. When he is gone, Sebastian will show himself." Though, to her own heart she added, "Never."
"I can bear no more," gasped Beatrix; "I must see him. Go to him."
"Nay," replied Zara, "he comes to you. Observe. Look behind you--the way we came."
And, looking behind her as the other bade, even while she trembled all over in her fear and excitement, she saw that Sebastian had himself mounted the stairs outside the house, and was preparing to pass along the passage; to pass by them.