"That is why I have come," Herrick answered.
"You must not stay. Felix will not really harm me, but you——"
"Have no fear, mademoiselle. I go armed, as you see. This dress proclaims me in the suite of De Bornais, and to-day no one has recognized the man they took for a spy in it. I have come from the castle. I am lodged there—a guest."
Christine turned again to the door to make certain it was locked, and then ran to the window, and closed it.
"I am afraid," she said, a color in her cheeks; "Jean climbed in this way, and bid me remember that an enemy might do the same. Oh, why have you come! Could you not have sent a messenger, could you not have sent Jean?"
"No, mademoiselle. I could trust none with my message to-night."
"Tell me," she said. "Tell me quickly. Every passing moment makes me more afraid."
"In three days Count Felix will be formally proclaimed Duke," said Herrick. "The blow we have planned will be struck then. It is a desperate venture; it may fail, but it is the only way."
"And if it fails?" said Christine.