They had stopped under the vacillating light of a gas jet
and appeared to be both bending over a paper held by Mademoiselle
Stangerson, reading something which deeply interested them. I
stopped in the darkness and silence.
"Neither of them saw me, and I distinctly heard Mademoiselle
Stangerson repeat, as she was refolding the paper: 'The presbytery
has lost nothing of its charm, nor the garden its brightness!'--It
was said in a tone at once mocking and despairing, and was followed
by a burst of such nervous laughter that I think her words will
never cease to sound in my ears. But another phrase was uttered by
Monsieur Robert Darzac: 'Must I commit a crime, then, to win you?'
He was in an extraordinarily agitated state. He took the hand of
Mademoiselle Stangerson and held it for a long time to his lips,
and I thought, from the movement of his shoulders, that he was
crying. Then they went away.
"When I returned to the great gallery," continued Rouletabille, "I
saw no more of Monsieur Robert Darzac, and I was not to see him
again until after the tragedy at the Glandier.
Pages:
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186