‘I picked it up in the Ruelle d’Arcy,’ she answered, tapping her foot on the floor resentfully. ‘It was the silly thing put it into my head to—to do what I did. And now, have you any more questions, sir?’
‘One only,’ I said, seeing it all clearly enough. ‘Will you tell me, please, exactly where you found it?’
‘I have told you. In the Ruelle d’Arcy, ten paces from the Rue de Valois. Now, sir, will you go?’
‘One word, madame. Did—’
But she cried, ‘Go, sir, go! go!’ so violently, that after making one more attempt to express my thanks, I thought it better to obey her. I had learned all she knew; I had solved the puzzle. But, solving it, I found myself no nearer to the end I had in view, no nearer to mademoiselle. I closed the door with a silent bow, and began to descend the stairs, my mind full of anxious doubts and calculations. The velvet knot was the only clue I possessed, but was I right; in placing any dependence on it? I knew now that, wherever it had originally lain, it had been removed once. If once, why not twice? why not three times?
CHAPTER IX. THE HOUSE IN THE RUELLE D’ARCY.
I had not gone down half a dozen steps before I heard a man enter the staircase from the street, and begin to ascend. It struck me at once that this might be M. de Bruhl; and I realised that I had not left madame’s apartment a moment too soon. The last thing I desired, having so much on my hands, was to embroil myself with a stranger, and accordingly I quickened my pace, hoping to meet him so near the foot of the stairs as to leave him in doubt whether I had been visiting the upper or lower part of the house. The staircase was dark, however, and being familiar with it, he had the advantage over me. He came leaping up two steps at a time, and turning the angle abruptly, surprised me before I was clear of the upper flight.
On seeing me, he stopped short and stared; thinking at first, I fancy, that he ought to recognise me. When he did not, he stood back a pace. ‘Umph!’ he said. ‘Have you been—have you any message for me, sir?’
‘No,’ I said, ‘I have not.’