CHAPTER V.THE VICOMTE DE LAVEDAN.
When next I awakened, it was to find myself abed in an elegant apartment, spacious and sunlit, that was utterly strange to me.

For some seconds I was content to lie and take no count of my whereabouts.

My eyes travelled idly over the handsome furnishings of that choicely appointed chamber, and rested at last upon the lean, crooked figure of a man whose back was towards me and who was busy with some phials at a table not far distant.

Then recollection awakened also in me, and I set my wits to work to grapple with my surroundings.

I looked through the open window, but from my position on the bed no more was visible than the blue sky and a faint haze of distant hills.
I taxed my memory, and the events of yesternight recurred to me.