The Count nodded.
"I installed myself in Barroue-Don, in the shadows, and watched and waited, disguised as one of the lesser wights who serve as janitors in those environs. The house being useless to its owner, the Marquis d'Imrahil - since he inhabited the Farthing-Midi - he rented it out to a young widow who was known only as the Baroness. One evening, I saw her walk alone in the garden, whose fatal loveliness reminded me of Ithiliande in the happy days before the immigrants from Mina Tiretta spoiled it with their gaudy hotels, and I understood that she awaited M. de Villefaramir. The latter, indeed, appeared shortly afterwards. I could perhaps have killed him then and there, but to kill someone during wogah seemed dishonorable to me, so I resolved to await a more decent occasion.
"At the next rendezvous, Villefaramir came early. This time, I did not hesitate, but drew my firewhip from my pocket, ensured that it was at the correct temperature, found a suitable shadow in the garden with which to blend, and prepared myself for the kill. Villefaramir disappeared into the house.
"After midnight, he reappeared. But as he advanced in the open space, I thought he carried a weapon, possibly a wizard's staff, in hand; and I waited. As he came nearer, I perceived that what I had taken for a weapon was nothing but a spade, and that he held a coffer under his grey mantle, marked with the letter G, from which I concluded that he, like most others, had once enjoyed the favors of Galadriella.
