In his heart he was cursing that liability to inconvenient fainting fits that make all women unreliable in a moment of need.
He preceded Steinmetz out of the room, forgetting even to resent the large, warm grasp on his arm.

They went through the long, dimly lit passage to the old part of the castle, where Steinmetz had his rooms.
"And now," said Steinmetz, when they were alone with closed doors, "and now, De Chauxville, let us understand each other." De Chauxville shrugged his shoulders.

He was not thinking of Steinmetz yet.

He was still thinking of Etta and how he could get speech with her.
With the assurance which had carried him through many a difficulty before this, the Frenchman looked round him, taking in the details of the room.

They were in the apartment beyond the large smoking room--the ante-room, as it were, to the little chamber where Paul kept his medicine-chest, his disguise, all the compromising details of his work among the peasants.