her soft and doleful, and her immense distress melted her utterly.

"And you, too, look as if you weren't satisfied. Now do just ask

Zoe if I'm at all mixed up in it. Zoe, do speak: explain to

The lady's maid, having brought a towel and a basin of water out of

the dressing room, had for some moments past been rubbing the carpet

in order to remove the bloodstains before they dried.

"Oh, monsieur, " she declared, "Madame is utterly miserable!"

Muffat was still stupefied; the tragedy had frozen him, and his