I do not know,' he responded.
I concluded at first that mademoiselle and her escort had arrived in the outskirts of the city, and that Maignan had justified his reputation for discretion by sending in to learn from me whether the way was clear before he entered.

In this notion I was partly confirmed and partly shaken by the accompanying message; which Simon, from whom every scrap of information had to be dragged as blood from a stone, presently delivered.
'You are to meet the sender half an hour after sunset to-morrow evening,' he said, 'on the Parvis at the north-east corner of the cathedral.' 'To-morrow evening ?' 'Yes, when else ?' the lad answered ungraciously.

'I said to-morrow evening.' I thought this strange.

I could understand why Maignan should prefer to keep his charge outside the walls until he heard from me, but not why he should postpone a meeting so long.

The message, too, seemed unnecessarily meagre, and I began to think Simon was still withholding something.
'Was that all ?' I asked him.
'Yes, all,' he answered, 'except--' 'Except what ?' I said sternly.
'Except that the woman showed me the gold token Mademoiselle de la Vire used to carry,' he answered reluctantly, 'and said, if you wanted further assurance that would satisfy you.' 'Did you see the coin ?' I cried eagerly.
'To be sure,' he answered.
'Then, mon dieu!' I retorted, 'either you are deceiving me, or the woman you saw deceived you.