Maurice Leblanc

“ She was one of those women who are made to be joyful and happy and who bring joy and happiness to those whom they love. And she adored André and had given him her whole life.
The gate of the château was five hundred yards from the village, at the end of a fourfold avenue of fir trees. She opened the gate and walked up the drive that encircled the lawn. On reaching the front steps, she seemed to hear a noise, but paid no attention to it, thinking that it was merely the sound of the wind or some other unimportant thing, and she opened the hall door. ”

“ Germaine staggered, affrighted. She remembered the man over there, behind the hall door, with a knife in his hand. And she thought also of her stupid oath, of the two gendarmes.
And suddenly she rushed out of the house. Could André not have arrived?... Could she possibly come up with him in time?
She cried out as she ran. She screamed:
“Help! Help!... This way!... To the château!”
A number of peasants came running after her. In a few minutes she had reached the gate, raced across the lawn, up the steps. ”

“ He's here now.”
“Here?”
“Yes, he and I were chatting, while waiting for you.”
“Oh!” murmured Germaine, beginning to entertain a vague feeling of uneasiness. “Well, if he's here, he can arrange with André.”
“But André has gone out.”
“What!”
“He went to meet you. Didn't you see him?”
“What! What are you saying, mother?” cried Germaine, in a choking voice.
She was standing up now with contorted features, mad with anguish:
“But, mother... but, mother.. he can't have gone out... or I should have seen him!”
“Why excite yourself?” asked the mother. “It's quite simple. ”