The Cardinal made a move towards the staircase and obediently the little crowd followed behind him.
“I offered the Comte any room in The Palace as a shrine for his powers,” the Cardinal explained, “but he chose what I call the attics for the simple reason that they are nearest the stars.”
If indeed they were attics, they were certainly very palatial ones, the Duke thought as they reached the top of the stairs. A long room, narrow and with an arched ceiling, was richly carpeted.
There was a table covered by a white cloth at one end and at either side of it, two huge candles. There was a heavy, pungent exotic fragrance in the air and with it an airlessness that made the Duke long to open wide a window to let in the night air. But the windows were sealed by heavy hangings of purple velvet.
