And so she ran from the place as the flames of the burning tavern added their mite to the sea of fire which surged above the doomed city, and warned those who looked upon Strasburg from afar that the day of waiting was drawing to its end.
CHAPTER XXVII
ACCUSATION
Guillaumette opened the door to her, and stood exclaiming upon the threshold—
“Madam—oh, Madame!”
“Let me pass, Guillaumette—I am very ill and my clothes are wet.”
“But—Madame—oh, mon Dieu! and Monsieur has come back.”
Beatrix shut the door quietly. The draughts through the broken ceiling of the hall played with the gas-jet there, and cast a garish, fitful light upon the faces of the women. From the dining-room there came the echo of voices. Men were talking in the room, and one of them was Edmond Lefort.
“He came back an hour ago, Madame; he would not eat or sit until you were here. And now the Captain Gatelet is with him—and you—Holy Virgin!”