The evening was quiet,--within, no more was heard than the regular breathing of my companion; without, an occasional savage outcry, mingled with the low moaning of the night wind.
It became a lonely vigil, my thoughts unhappy.

I had much to reflect upon.

The extreme difficulty of our present situation, encompassed and separated as we were: De Noyan was bewitched by a siren who had already bound him by silken cords to any nefarious scheme her unscrupulous desires might compass; Cairnes was as helplessly entangled in her power, although held to his fate by ropes of a different nature; while Madame was scarcely less a prisoner, powerless to escape the ruthless grasp of a false-hearted woman whose jealousy might at any instant lead to measures of extremity.

I alone of all our little company remained somewhat my own master.

My hands and heart at least were free from all visible bonds.