impossible!”

“But it is true. Deschamps may not have wished to kill you; she merely wanted to prevent you from singing, but she ran a serious risk of murder, and she must have known it.”

Rosa began to sob, and I led her back to her chair.

“I ought not to have told you to-night,” I said. “But we should communicate with the police, and I wanted your authority before doing so.”

She dried her eyes, but her frame still shook.

“I will sing ‘Carmen,’“ she said passionately.

“Of course you will. We must get these two arrested, and you shall have proper protection.”