"I can only say that our son is ruined!"
"No, not yet; listen to me. Pierre is with my father at this moment; hasten and listen to the conversation."
"But he is locked in his room!"
"I know that, Magdalena. Raise that curtain; you will find a door which opens on a staircase in the wall; go down twenty steps, then stop, pass your hand over the wall until you feel a spring; press it, and it will open. You will find a small window concealed within the room by the carving, and you can hear every word that is spoken—"
"Very good; but your wound—"
"Is not of much consequence; but hasten, for your son's sake."
The Vicomtesse disappeared.
This explains the noise that had attracted the attention of the Marquis.
An hour later Magdalena returned to her husband. "I know enough," she said. "Your brother Simon is married—he has two sons, and lives in the village of Leigoutte."