A sleepy maid in night attire answered his furious ringing; the man pushed her aside with an oath and strode into the semi-darkness of the corridor. He was nearly six feet tall, bulky; but his legs were either too short or something else was the matter with them, for when he walked he waddled, breathing noisily from the ascent of the stairs.
"Is your mistress here?" he demanded, hoarse with his effort.
"When did she come in?" And, as the scared and bewildered maid hesitated: "Damn you, answer me! When did Mademoiselle Quellen come in? I'll wring your neck if you lie to me!"
"Monsieur le Comte--I do not wish to lie to you.... Mademoiselle Nihla came back with the dawn----"
"Does Monsieur le Comte m-mean to harm her?"
"Will you answer me, you snivelling cat!" he panted between his big, discoloured teeth. He had fished out a pistol from his breast pocket, dragging with it a silk handkerchief, a fancy cap of tissue and gilt, and some streamers of confetti which fell to the carpet around his feet.
"Now," he breathed in a half-strangled voice, "answer my questions. Was she alone when she came in?"
"M-Monsieur le Comte, I have never before beheld him----"
"I do not lie! I have never before seen him, Monsieur le----"
"What!" The man's puffy face went flabby white, and his big, badly made frame seemed to sag for a moment. He laid a large fat hand flat against the wall, as though to support and steady himself, and gazed dully at the terrified maid.
And she, shivering in her night-robe and naked feet, stared back into the pallid face, with its coarse, greyish moustache and little short side-whiskers which vulgarized it completely--gazed in unfeigned terror at the sagging, deadly, lead-coloured eyes.
"Is the man there--in there now--with her?" demanded the Comte d'Eblis heavily.
"Oh, Monsieur le Comte, the young man stayed but a moment----"
"In the salon. I--I served a pâté--a glass of wine--and the young gentleman was gone the next minute----"
A dull red discoloured the neck and features of the Count.
"That's enough," he said; and waddled past her along the corridor to the furthest door; and wrenched it open with one powerful jerk.
In the still, golden gloom of the drawn curtains, now striped with sunlight, a young girl suddenly sat up in bed.