The strange enchanter, who seemed to rule all the material part of the woman though the mental portion baffled him, lifted up Lorenza in his arms and carried her to the couch; there he laid a long kiss on her lips, drew the curtains of bed and windows, and left her.
A sweet and blessed sleep enveloped her like the cloak of a kind mother wrapping the willful child who has much suffered and wept.
A carriage, going through St. Denis gateway, and following the street of the same name, turned into the road leading out to the Bastille.
As the clairvoyant had stated, this conveyance enclosed the Cardinal Prince of Rohan, Bishop of Strasburg, whose impatience had caused him to anticipate the hour fixed for his visit to the magician in his cave of mystery.
The coachman, who had been inured to obscurity, pitfalls and dangers of some darksome streets by the prelate's love adventures, was not daunted the least when, after leaving the part of the way still populated and lighted, he had to take the black and lonesome Bastille Boulevard.
The vehicle stopped at the corner of St. Claude Street, where it hid along the trees twenty paces off.
Prince Rohan, in plain dress, glided up the street, and rapped three times on the door, which he easily recognized from the indication the count had afforded.
Fritz's steps sounded in the passage, and he opened the door.
"Is it here resides Count Fenix?" inquired Rohan.
"Shall I announce his Eminence Cardinal Prince de Rohan?" asked Fritz.
The prince stood aghast, looking round him and at himself to see if anything about him in costume or surroundings betrayed his rank. No; he was alone and in civilian dress.
"My lord told me just now, that he expected your Eminence."
"Not so, please your highness--this evening."
"Announce me, any way," said the prelate, putting a double-louis gold piece in his hand.
Fritz intimated that the visitor should follow him; and he walked briskly to the door of the ante-chamber, which a large chandelier with a dozen tapers illuminated. The visitor followed, surprised and meditative.
"There must be some mistake, my friend," he said, pausing at the door, "in which case I do not wish to disturb the count. It is impossible he can expect me, as he could not know I was coming."