"Thou wilt have a message ere nightfall. An awful trial awaits thee ere the spell can be countervailed."
The cavalier withdrew, suffering many wistful remarks from the old door-keeper, who marvelled greatly at the interview so graciously conceded by his master; while at the same time holding out his palm for the promised largess.
De Vessey waited impatiently at his own dwelling for the expected message. Evening drew on, dark and stormy. The wind roared along the narrow streets in sharp and irregular gusts; while, pacing his chamber in an agony of suspense, he fancied every sound betokened the approaching communication. At length, when expectation was almost weary, a louder rumbling was heard; a coach drew up at the door; a hasty knock, and a heavy tramp; then footsteps ascending the staircase. The door opened, and two gens-d'armes entered.
"We have authority and instructions for the arrest of one Sigismund de Vessey, on a charge of murder, made this day by deposition before the Mayor and Prefecture of the Ville de Paris. The individual so named, we apprehend, is before us."
"The same; though assuredly there is some mistake. Of whose death am I accused?"
"Of one Conrad Bergmann, a painter, whose body, last night thrown into the Seine, was to-day exposed in the Morgue. The rest will be explained anon."
"But an engagement, one too of a most important nature, demands my presence."
"No discretion is allowed us in this matter. The carriage waits."
However reluctant, De Vessey was forced to obey. Though confident of a speedy release, this arrest at so important a juncture was provoking enough. Leonora's recovery might probably depend on his exertions for the next few hours, which were now suddenly wrested from him.
Leaving word that he would shortly return, the cavalier stept into the vehicle, which immediately drove off.