Portion 3Far on in the night there were voices outside reached us in our
hiding-place; an angry knocking at the door, and we saw through the
chinks the old woman rouse herself up to go and open it for her
master, who came in, evidently half drunk. To my sick horror, he
was followed by Lefebvre, apparently as sober and wily as ever.
They were talking together as they came in, disputing about
something; but the miller stopped the conversation to swear at the
old woman for having fallen asleep, and, with tipsy anger, and even
with blows, drove the poor old creature out of the kitchen to bed.
Then he and Lefebvre went on talking — about the Sieur de Poissy's
disappearance. It seemed that Lefebvre had been out all day, along
with other of my husband's men, ostensibly assisting in the
