"Giovanni! Giovanni! Have no fear—it is I, Miretta, who follows you. Giovanni! in heaven's name, answer me! If you are pursued, tell me what you wish me to do.—Mon Dieu! I see something on the ground—it is blood that is dropping from you as you run! You are wounded! In the name of heaven, answer me!"
The man whom Miretta was trying so hard to overtake was in fact wounded; a bullet had struck his shoulder; he continued to fly, however; but, as he was entering Place Royale, the pain compelled him to stop a moment. This enabled Miretta to overtake him. At the girl's approach, he tried to resume his flight, but she clung to his clothes, saying:
"Giovanni! Giovanni! pray speak to me! tell me—— Mon Dieu! mon Dieu! this figure—this man is not he!—Oh! you will try in vain to escape me; I will find out who you are; for, if you are not Giovanni, as you wear his costume, it must be that you have killed him!—No, I will not let you go; kill me, if you choose, but I will know who you are!"
As she spoke, Miretta succeeded in seizing the false beard of the man before her; she tore it off, and by the same movement caused the enormous cap that concealed his eyes to fall. At that instant the moon appeared and shone full upon the two, and Miretta was able to examine at her leisure the face of Léodgard.
On recognizing the count, the girl stood a moment as if turned to stone; then a cry escaped from her lips, and she recoiled from him in horror, muttering:
"Ah! that was the reason why I felt a secret terror in that man's presence!"
Taking advantage of Miretta's surprise and stupefaction, Léodgard hastily resumed his flight, running at random. But the blood that he lost in large quantities, and the pain that he felt, caused his strength to fail; he realized that it would soon be impossible for him to stand erect, and he fancied that he heard in the distance the footsteps of soldiers pursuing him. Thereupon, as he tried to recognize his surroundings, to see where he was, he found that he had halted directly in front of the gateway of the ancient mansion of his ancestors. Seizing the knocker, he struck several violent blows. The heavy gate swung open at last; Léodgard passed through and made haste to secure it behind him. Then his strength failed him, and he fell at full length on the pavement of the courtyard.
At that moment the soldiers of the watch entered the square, looking in all directions for Giovanni.
LIV
AN ACCUSATION
The soldiers who were pursuing the robber had passed Miretta; but when the officer in command saw the girl standing there alone, her whole aspect indicating intense excitement and terror, he stopped and said to her: