She shrugged her shoulders and did not answer.
Godfrey d’Etigues bent closer to her and in a lower voice he said:
“And Beaumagnan?”
She raised limpid eyes to his face:
“Beaumagnan?”
“Yes—the third of our friends you murdered. And only a little while ago.... A few weeks.... He died poisoned.... You did not know him?”
CHAPTER III.
A TRIBUNAL OF THE INQUISITION
What was the meaning of this accusation? Ralph looked at Beaumagnan. He had risen, without raising himself to his full height, and sheltering himself behind his friends drew nearer and nearer to Josephine Balsamo. With her eyes fixed intently on the Baron, she paid no attention to him.
Then Ralph understood why Beaumagnan had hidden himself and the formidable trap they were laying for the young woman. If she had really tried to poison Beaumagnan, if she really believed him dead, with what a fear she would be stricken when he stepped forward in person to face her, living, ready to accuse her! If, on the other hand, she remained untroubled and Beaumagnan appeared to her as great a stranger as the others, what a proof of her innocence!
Ralph found himself extraordinarily anxious. Indeed so keenly did he desire her to succeed in foiling the plotters that he tried to find some method of conveying a warning to her.