“Give me the keys at once!” cried Fouquet, tearing them from his hand. “Which is the key of the door I am to open?”

“That one.”

A fearful cry, followed by a violent blow against the door, made the whole staircase resound with the echo.

“Leave this place,” said Fouquet to Baisemeaux, in a threatening tone.

“I ask nothing better,” murmured the latter, to himself. “There will be a couple of madmen face to face, and the one will kill the other, I am sure.”

“Go!” repeated Fouquet. “If you place your foot on this staircase before I call you, remember that you shall take the place of the meanest prisoner in the Bastile.”