He looked at an hour glass, and saw that it had already run out. He turned to the window to judge the time by a moon that struggled clear of a black cloud which lay like a pall over Notre Dame. He said aloud: "It is no more than nine. It is at half-past ten she will come, if at all. There will be time before that."
But even as he spoke there was a noise of steps and voices upon the bridge. He put his ear to a long tube which brought him the sounds of the street. "It is not she," he muttered, "nor is it they. They are certainly men, and they have stopped at the door."
So they had. Three loud knocks resounded through the empty shop. Ren é descended, and put his ear to the door. "Who is there?"
"Must we tell you that?"
"Yes. If you wish to enter at this hour."
"I am Count Annabel de Coco
