She saw a bright light issuing from a couple of windows in the mansion of the Duke of Vallombreuse--doubtless in the room where the wounded young nobleman lay--but the garden and the little alley beneath her seemed absolutely deserted.

In a moment, however, she caught a low whisper from the latter, not intended for her ears, which said, "She has not gone to bed yet." She softly leaned out of her window--the room within was not lighted, so she could not be seen--and peering anxiously into the darkness thought she could distinguish two cloaked figures lurking in the alley, and farther away, near one end of it, a third one, apparently on the watch.

They seemed to feel that they were observed, and all three presently slunk away and vanished, leaving Isabelle half in doubt as to whether they were the creatures of her excited imagination, or had been real men prowling there.

Tired at last of watching, without hearing or seeing anything more, she withdrew from the window, closed and secured it softly, procured a light, saw that the great, clumsy bolt on her door was property adjusted, and made her preparations for bed; lying down at last and trying to sleep, for she was very tired, but haunted by vague fears and doubts that made her anxious and uneasy.

She did not extinguish her light, but placed it near the bed, and strove to reassure herself and reason away her nameless terror; but all in vain.