“God grant it, my good Herode,” said de Sigognac fervently.  “But naturally I cannot feel happy about it.  It would have been far better for all if I had been killed instead of the duke, since Isabelle would have been safe from his criminal pursuit under her father’s care.  And then, I may as well tell you all, a secret horror froze the very marrow in my bones when I saw that handsome young man, but a moment before so full of life, fire, and passion, fall lifeless, pale and stiff at my feet.  Herode, the death of a man is a grave thing, and though I cannot suffer from remorse for this one, since I have committed no crime, still, all the time I see Vallombreuse before me, lying, motionless and ghastly, with the blood oozing slowly from his wound.  It haunts me.  I cannot drive the horrid sight away.”

“That is all wrong,” said the tyrant, soothingly—­for the other was much excited—­“for you could not have done otherwise.  Your conscience should not reproach you.  You have acted throughout, from the very beginning to the end, like the noble gentleman that you are.  These scruples are owing to exhaustion, to the feverishness due to the excitement you have gone through, and the chill from the night air.  We will gallop on swiftly in a moment, to set our blood flowing more freely, and drive away these sad thoughts of yours.  But one thing must be promptly done; you must quit Paris, forthwith, and retire for a time to some quiet retreat, until all this trouble is forgotten.  The violent death of the Duke of Vallombreuse will make a stir at the court, and in the city, no matter how much pains may be taken to keep the facts from the public, and, although he was not at all popular, indeed very much the reverse, there will be much regret expressed, and you will probably be severely blamed.  But now let us put spurs to these lazy steeds of ours, and try to get on a little faster.”

While they are galloping towards Paris, we will return to the chateau—­as quiet now as it had been noisy a little while before.  In the young duke’s room, a candelabrum, with several branches, stood on a round table, so that the light from the candles fell upon the bed, where he lay with closed eyes, as motionless as a corpse, and as pale.  The walls of the large chamber, above a high wainscot of ebony picked out with gold, were hung with superb tapestry, representing the history of Medea and Jason, with all its murderous and revolting details.  Here, Medea was seen cutting the body of Pelias into pieces, under pretext of restoring his youth—­there, the madly jealous woman and unnatural mother was murdering her own children; in another panel she was fleeing, surfeited with vengeance, in her chariot, drawn by huge dragons breathing out flames of fire.  The tapestry was certainly magnificent in quality and workmanship, rich in colouring, artistic in design, and very costly—­but inexpressibly repulsive.  These mythological horrors gave the luxurious room an intensely disagreeable, lugubrious aspect, and