— 3 — INNOCENZO,
NEPHEW TO THE POPEHe turned and followed the page who was waiting to guide him to the door by which he had entered the Louvre; the vast palace, so sombre, magnificent and silent, oppressed him; he had, too, been saddened by the death of Jacquetta and the painful, childish distress of her mistress; himself upright and temperate he was disgusted by this society, on the surface so gay and brilliant, where such horrors were possible — yes, horrors, for whatever truth there might be in the tale of Doctor Rabel it was clear that one of these girls had been destroyed and that the other was in grave fear because of secret intrigues instigated by ambition, greed and lust.
The page led Desgrez across a large salon, which was full of shadow; the fire under the high hooded chimney h
