engage me in conversation, to consult me about a hundred trifles, to
ask me with the greatest deference what they ought to do in such and
such cases, pressing close to me, trying every expedient to delay my
departure. When we went away they stood at the door of their little
office close together, looking after us with looks which I found it
difficult to forget; they would not abandon their post; but their faces
were pale and contracted, their eyes wild with anxiety and distress.

It was only as I walked away, hearing my own steps and those of Lecamus
ringing upon the pavement, that I began to realise what had happened.
The effort of recovering my composure, the relief from the extreme
excitement of terror (which, dreadful as the idea is, I am obliged to
confess I had actually felt), the sudden influx of life and strength to
my brain, had pushed away for the moment the recollection of what lay
outside. When I thought of it again, the blood began once more to course
in my veins. Lecamus went on by my side with his head down, the eyelids
drooping over his eyes, not saying a word. He followed me when I called
him: but cast a regretful look at the postern by which we had gone out,
through which I had dragged him back in a panic (I confess it) unworthy
of me. Only when we had left at some distance behind us that door into
the unseen, did my senses come fully back to me, and I ventured to ask
myself what it meant. 'Lecamus,' I said--I could scarcely put my
question into words--'what do you think? what is your idea?--how do you
explain--' Even then I am glad to think I had sufficient power of
control not to betray all that I felt.

'One does not try to explain,' he said slowly; 'one longs to know--that
is all. If M. le Maire had not been--in such haste--had he been willing
to go farther--to investigate----'

'God forbid!' I said; and the impulse to quicken my steps, to get home
and put myself in safety, was almost more than I could restrain. But I
forced myself to go quietly, to measure my steps by his, which were slow
and reluctant, as if he dragged himself away with difficulty from that
which was behind.

What was it? 'Do not ask, do not ask!' Nature seemed to say in my heart.
Thoughts came into my mind in such a dizzy crowd, that the multitude of
them seemed to take away my senses. I put up my hands to my ears, in
which they seemed to be buzzing and rustling like bees, to stop the
sound. When I did so, Lecamus turned and