I would fain have gone to see, but you were my first object.

I could not carry you, and went to Madeleine for help.

She had just gone with Gabrielle and the children to Les Arenes; but while I was preparing bandages and a liniment for your poor feet, she returned and accompanied me back." "Madeleine is a good angel," said I, pressing my arm more closely to her.
"What is your case to-day, may be ours to-morrow," said she.
We continued our painful and tedious course, "lurking in the thievish corners of the streets," like evil-doers, if we saw any one coming.

The moon was dangerously bright, but the shadows were proportionately dark, and at length we reached Les Arenes, with their depths of mysterious shadow, and solemn pillars and arches silvered by the white beams.
Though the amphitheatre is in the heart of the city, the neighborhood seemed unusually deserted.

People had fled, or were cowering in hiding-places, or were flocking to see what was going on elsewhere.
I cannot otherwise account for it.