Instead, I opened the door, and, crossing the common room, I flung myself down a passage that I thought must lead to the chamber in which they were closeted.

But in this I was at fault, and ere I had come upon a waiter and been redirected some precious moments were lost.
He led me back through the common room to a door opening upon another corridor.

He pushed it wide, and I came suddenly face to face with Chatellerault, still flushed from his recent contest.
"You here!" he gasped, his jaw falling, and his cheeks turning pale, as well they might; for all that he could not dream I had overheard his bargaining.
"We will go back, if you please, Monsieur le Comte." said I.
"Back where ?" he asked stupidly.
"Back to Mademoiselle.

Back to the room you have just quitted." And none too gently I pushed him into the corridor again, and so, in the gloom, I missed the expression of his face.
"She is not there," said he.
I laughed shortly.
"Nevertheless, we will go back," I insisted.
And so I had my way, and we gained the room where his infamous traffic had been held.

Yet for once he spoke the truth.