“What are you doing?” he said angrily.

“I made a mistake.  And so there is no need to attach any importance—­”

Don Luis hurriedly left the dining-room.  By his orders, the water which he drank was drawn from a filter that stood in a pantry at the end of the passage leading from the dining-room to the kitchens and beyond.  He ran to it and took from a shelf a bowl which he filled with water from the filter.  Then, continuing to follow the passage, which at this spot branched off toward the yard, he called Mirza, the puppy, who was playing by the stables.

“Here,” he said, putting the bowl in front of her.

The puppy began to drink.  But she stopped almost at once and stood motionless, with her paws tense and stiff.  A shiver passed through the little body.  The dog gave a hoarse groan, spun round two or three times, and fell.

“She’s dead,” he said, after touching the animal.

Mile.  Levasseur had joined him.  He turned to her and rapped out: 

“You were right about the poison—­and you knew it.  How did you know it?”

All out of breath, she checked the beating of her heart and answered: 

“I saw the other puppy drinking in the pantry.  She’s dead.  I told the coachman and the chauffeur.  They’re over there, in the stable.  And I ran to warn you.”

“In that case, there was no doubt about it.  Why did you say that you were not certain that the water was poisoned, when—­”

The chauffeur and the coachman were coming out of the stables.  Leading the girl away, Perenna said: 

“We must talk about this.  We’ll go to your rooms.”

They went back to the bend in the passage.  Near the pantry where the filter was, another passage ran, ending in a flight of three steps, with a door at the top of the steps.  Perenna opened this door.  It was the entrance to the rooms occupied by Mlle. Levasseur.  They went into a sitting-room.

Don Luis closed the entrance door and the door of the sitting-room.

“And now,” he said, in a resolute tone, “you and I will have an explanation.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

SHAKESPEARE’S WORKS, VOLUME VIII

Two lodges, belonging to the same old-time period as the house itself, stood at the extreme right and left of the low wall that separated the front courtyard from the Place du Palais-Bourbon.  These lodges were joined to the main building, situated at the back of the courtyard, by a series of outhouses.  On one side were the coach-houses, stables, harness-rooms, and garage, with the porter’s lodge at the end; on the other side, the wash-houses, kitchens, and offices, ending in the lodge occupied by Mlle. Levasseur.

This lodge had only a ground floor, consisting of a dark entrance hall and one large room, most of which served as a sitting-room, while the rest, arranged as a bedroom, was really only a sort of alcove.  A curtain hid the bed and wash-hand-stand.  There were two windows looking out on the Place du Palais-Bourbon.