In spite of her depression, Natalie,
who had not seen her new apartments, felt some curiosity about them,
whilst De Chaulieu anticipated a triumph in exhibiting the elegant home
he had prepared for her. With some alacrity, therefore, they stepped
out of the carriage, the gates of the hotel were thrown open, the
_concierge_ rang the bell which announced to the servants that their
master and mistress had arrived; and whilst these domestics appeared
above, holding lights over the balusters, Natalie, followed by her
husband, ascended the stairs.
But when they reached the landing-place of the first flight, they saw
the figure of a man standing in a corner, as if to make way for them.
The flash from above fell upon his face, and again Antoine de Chaulieu
recognized the features of Jacques Rollet.
From the circumstance of his wife preceding him, the figure was not
observed by De Chaulieu till he was lifting his foot to place it on
the top stair: the sudden shock caused him to miss the step, and without
uttering a sound, he fell back, and never stopped until he reached the
stones at the bottom.
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