There was something here that I did not understand; some influence at work on which I had not counted; something moving under the surface as unintelligible to me as the soldiers' presence.

Had the Captain repudiated my commission altogether, and put me to the door or sent me to the guard-house, I could have followed that.

But these dubious hints, this passive resistance, puzzled me.

Had they news from Paris, I wondered?
Was the King dead?
Or the Cardinal ill?
I asked them, but they said no, no, no to all, and gave me guarded answers.

And midnight found us still playing; and still fencing..