"No, I cannot. I felt as if there was a veil before my eyes; and he
passed me like a shadow."

The magistrate could hardly conceal his disappointment.

"Never mind," he said, "we'll find him out. But go on, sir."

The count shook his head.

"I have nothing more to say," he replied. "I had fainted; and when I
recovered my consciousness, some hours later, I found myself here lying
on this bed."

M. Galpin noted down the count's answers with scrupulous exactness: when
he had done, he asked again,--

"We must return to the details of the attack, and examine them minutely.
Now, however, it is important to know what happened after you fell. Who
could tell us that?"

"My wife, sir."

"I thought so. The countess, no doubt, got up when you rose."

"My wife had not gone to bed."

The magistrate turned suddenly to the countess; and at a glance he
perceived that her costume was not that of a lady who had been suddenly
roused from slumber by the burning of her house.