It was the first time that Don Luis had set foot in Mlle. Levasseur’s room.  Engrossed though he was with other matters, he felt its charm.  It was very simply furnished:  some old mahogany chairs and armchairs, a plain, Empire writing-table, a round table with one heavy, massive leg, and some book-shelves.  But the bright colour of the linen curtains enlivened the room.  On the walls hung reproductions of famous pictures, drawings of sunny buildings and landscapes, Italian villas, Sicilian temples....

The girl remained standing.  She had resumed her composure, and her face had taken on the enigmatical expression so difficult to fathom, especially as she had assumed a deliberate air of dejection, which Perenna guessed was intended to hide her excitement and alertness, together with the tumultuous feelings which even she had great difficulty in controlling.

Her eyes looked neither timorous nor defiant.  It really seemed as though she had nothing to fear from the explanation.

Don Luis kept silent for some little time.  It was strange and it annoyed him to feel it, but he experienced a certain embarrassment in the presence of this woman, against whom he was inwardly bringing the most serious charges.  And, not daring to put them into words, not daring to say plainly what he thought, he began: 

“You know what happened in this house this morning?”

“This morning?”

“Yes, when I had finished speaking on the telephone.”

“I know now.  I heard it from the servants, from the butler.”

“Not before?”

“How could I have known earlier?”

She was lying.  It was impossible that she should be speaking the truth.  And yet in what a calm voice she had replied!

He went on: 

“I will tell you, in a few words, what happened.  I was leaving the telephone box, when the iron curtain, concealed in the upper part of the wall, fell in front of me.  After making sure that there was nothing to be done, I simply resolved, as I had the telephone by me, to call in the assistance of one of my friends.  I rang up Major d’Astrignac.  He came at once and, with the help of the butler, let me out.  Is that what you heard?”

“Yes, Monsieur.  I had gone to my room, which explains why I knew nothing of the incident or of Major d’Astrignac’s visit.”

“Very well.  It appears, however, from what I learned when I was released, that the butler and, for that matter, everybody in the house, including yourself, knew of the existence of that iron curtain.”

“Certainly.”

“And how did you know it?”

“Through Baron Malonyi.  He told me that, during the Revolution, his great-grandmother, on the mother’s side, who then occupied this house and whose husband was guillotined, remained hidden in that recess for thirteen months.  At that time the curtain was covered with woodwork similar to that of the room.”