There was something different about the place, something at which I could only dimly guess, which at that time I did not understand.

Only I realized that I watched always with a little thrill of interest whenever the hurrying forward of Monsieur Carvin indicated the arrival of a new visitor.
We had already risen to go, and the _vestiaire_ was on his way towards us, bearing my hat and coat, when Monsieur Carvin, who had hurried out a moment before, reappeared, ushering in a new arrival.

The events that followed have always seemed a little confused to me.

My first thought was that this was indeed a nightmare into which I had wandered.

The slight unreality which had hung like a cloud over the whole of the evening, the strangeness of my being there with such a companion, the curious atmosphere of the place, which so far had completely puzzled me,--these things may all have served to heighten the illusion.