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Chapter LVI
Chapter LVI
The Fifth Day Of Captivity
Milady had however achieved a half-triumph, and the success obtained
doubled her strength.
It was not a difficult thing to conquer, as she had hitherto done, men
prompt to allow themselves to be seduced, and whom the gallant education of
a court led quickly into her snares; milady was handsome enough not to find
much resistance on the part of the flesh, and she was sufficiently skillful
to prevail over all the obstacles of the mind.
But this time she had to contend with a wild nature, concentrated and
insensible by the power of austerity; religion and its observances had made
Felton a man inaccessible to ordinary seductions. There fermented in that
heated brain plans so vast, projects so tumultuous, that there remained no
room for any capricious or material love, that sentiment which is fed by
leisure and grows with corruption. Milady had then made a breach, with her
false virtue, in the opinion of a man horribly prejudiced against her, and
by her beauty in the heart of a man hitherto chaste and pure. In short, she
had acquired a knowledge of her means, till this instance unknown to herself,
by this experiment, made upon the most rebellious subject that nature and
religion could submit to her study.
Many a time, nevertheless, during the evening, she despaired of fate and
of herself: she did not invoke God, we very well know, but she had faith in
the genius of evil, that immense sovereignty which reigns in all the details
of human life, and by which, as in the Arabian fable, a single pomegranate
seed is sufficient to reconstruct a ruined world.
Milady, being well prepared for the reception of Felton, was able to
erect her batteries for the next day. She knew she had only two days left;
that when once the order was signed by Buckingham - and Buckingham would sign
it the more readily from its bearing a false name, and that he could not,
therefore, recognize the woman in question - once this order signed, we say,
the baron would make her embark immediately, and she knew very well that
women condemned to transportation employ arms much less powerful in their
seductions than the pretendedly virtuous woman whose beauty is enlightened
by the sun of the world, which style of beauty the voice of fashion lauds,
and whom a halo of aristocracy gilds with its enchanting splendors. To be
a woman condemned to a painful and disgraceful punishment is no impediment
to beauty, but it is an obstacle to the regaining of power. Like all persons
of real genius, milady was acquainted with what suited her nature and her
means. Poverty was destruction to her - degradation took away two-thirds of
her greatness. Milady was only a queen among queens. The pleasure of
satisfied pride was necessary for her domination. To command inferior beings
was rather a humiliation than a pleasure for her.
She should certainly return from her exile - she did not doubt that a
single instant; but how long might this exile last? For an active, ambitious
nature, like that of milady, days not spent in mounting are inauspicious
days! what word, then, can be found to describe those in which they descend?
To lose a year, two years, three years, is to talk of an eternity; to return
after the death or disgrace of the cardinal, perhaps; to return when
D`Artagnan and his friends, happy and triumphant, should have received from
the queen the reward they had well acquired by the services they had rendered
her - there were devouring ideas that a woman like milady could not endure.
For the rest, the storm which raged within her doubled her strength, and she
would have burst the walls of her prison if her body had been able to take
for a single instant the proportions of her mind.
Then that which spurred her on additionally in the midst of all this was
the remembrance of the cardinal. What must the mistrustful, restless,
suspicious cardinal think of her silence; the cardinal, not merely her only
support, her only prop, her only protector in the present, but still further,
the principal instrument of her future fortune and vengeance? She knew him
- she knew that at her return it would be in vain to tell him of her
imprisonment, in vain to enlarge upon the sufferings she had undergone - the
cardinal would reply, with the sarcastic calmness of the skeptic, strong at
once by power and genius, "You should not have allowed yourself to be taken."
Then milady collected all her energies, murmuring in the depths of her
soul the name of Felton, the only beam of light that penetrated to her in the
hell into which she was fallen; and, like a serpent which folds and unfolds
its rings to ascertain its strength, she enveloped Felton beforehand in the
thousand meshes of her inventive imagination.
Time, however, passed away; the hours, one after another, seemed to
awaken the clock as they passed, and every blow of the brass hammer resounded
upon the heart of the prisoner. At nine o`clock de Winter made his customary
visit, examined the window and the bars, sounded the floor and the walls,
looked to the chimney and the doors, without, during this long and minute
examination, he or milady pronouncing a single word.
Doubtless both of them understood that the situation had become too
serious to lose time in useless words and aimless passion.
"Well," said the baron, on leaving her, "you will not escape this
night!"
At ten o`clock, Felton came and placed the sentinel; milady recognized
his step. She was as well acquainted with it now as a mistress is with that
of the lover of her heart, and yet milady at the same time detested and
despised this weak fanatic.
That was not the appointed hour - Felton would not come in.
Two hours after, as the clock struck twelve, the sentinel was relieved.
This time it was the hour, and from this moment milady waited with
impatience.
The new sentinel commenced his walk in the corridor.
At the expiration of ten minutes Felton came.
Milady was all attention.
"Listen," said the young man to the sentinel; "on no pretense leave the
door, for you know that last night my lord punished a soldier for having
quitted his post for an instant, although I, during his absence, watched in
his place."
"Yes, I know he did," said the soldier.
"I recommend you, therefore, to keep the strictest watch. For my part,
I am going to pay a second visit to this woman who, I fear, entertains
sinister intentions upon her own life, and I have received orders to watch
her."
"Good!" murmured milady; "the austere Puritan has learned to lie!"
As to the soldier, he only smiled.
"Zounds! lieutenant," said he, "you are not very unlucky in being
charged with such commissions, particularly if my lord has authorized you to
look in her bed!"
Felton blushed; under any other circumstances he would have reprimanded
the soldier for indulging in such a joke, but his conscience murmured too
highly to allow his mouth to dare to speak.
"If I call, come in," said he; "if any one comes, call me."
"I will, lieutenant," said the soldier.
Felton entered milady`s apartment. Milady arose.
"You are come, then!" said she.
"I promised you I would come," said Felton, "and I am come."
"You promised me other things besides."
"What? my God!" said the young man, who, in spite of his self-command,
felt his knees tremble, and the sweat start from his brow.
"You promised to bring a knife, and to leave it with me after our
conversation."
"Say no more of that, madame," said Felton; "there is no situation,
however terrible it may be, which can authorize one of God`s creatures to
inflict death upon itself. I have reflected, and I cannot, must not be
capable of such a sin." dared her - there were devouring ideas that a woman
like in her fauteuil, with a smile of disdain; "and I also have reflected!"
"Upon what? To what purpose?"
"That I can have nothing to say to a man who does not keep his word."
"Oh! my God!" murmured Felton.
"You may retire," said milady; "I shall not speak."
"Here is the knife!" said Felton, drawing from his pocket the weapon
which, according to his promise, he had brought, but which he hesitated to
give to the prisoner.
"Let me see it," said milady.
"For what purpose?"
"Upon my honor I will instantly return it to you; you shall place it on
that table, and you remain between it and me."
Felton held the weapon to milady, who examined the temper of it
attentively, and who tried to point on the tip of her finger.
"Well," said she, returning the knife to the young officer, "this is
fine and good steel; you are a faithful friend, Felton."
Felton took back the weapon, and laid it upon the table, as had been
agreed.
Milady followed him with eyes, unable to refrain from a gesture of
satisfaction.
"Now," said she, "listen to me."
The recommendation was useless: the young officer stood upright before
her, awaiting her words, as if to devour them.
"Felton," said milady, with a solemnity full of melancholy, "if your
sister, the daughter of your father, said to you:
"`Still young, unfortunately handsome, I was dragged into a snare, I
resisted; ambushes and violences were multiplied around me, I resisted; the
religion I serve, the God I adore, were blasphemed because I called upon that
religion and that God, I resisted; then outrages were heaped upon me, and as
my soul was not subdued, it was determined to defile my body forever. In
short - `"
Milady stopped, and a bitter smile passed over her lips.
"In short," said Felton, "in short, what did they do?"
"At length, one evening, my enemy resolved to paralyze the resistance
he could not conquer; one evening he mixed a powerful narcotic with my water.
Scarcely had I finished my repast, when I felt myself sink by degrees into
a strange torpor. Although I was without suspicion, a vague fear seized me,
and I endeavored to struggle against sleep. I arose; I endeavored to run to
the window, and call for help, but my limbs refused their office. It
appeared as if the ceiling sank upon my head, and crushed me with its weight!
I stretched out my arms, I endeavored to speak; I could only utter
inarticulate sounds, and irresistable faintness came over me; I supported
myself by a fauteuil, feeling that I was about to fall, but this support was
soon useless, for my weak arms. I fell upon one knee, then upon both. I
tried to pray, but my tongue was frozen; God, doubtless, neither heard nor
saw me, and I sank down upon the floor, a prey to a sleep which resembled
death.
"Of all that passed in that sleep, or the time which glided away while
it lasted, I have no remembrance; the only thing I recollect is, that I awoke
in bed, in a round chamber, the furniture of which was sumptuous, and into
which light only penetrated by an opening in the ceiling. No door gave
entrance to the room: it might be called a magnificent prison.
"It was a long time before I was able to make out what place I was in,
or to take account of the details I describe; my mind appeared to strive in
vain to shake off the heavy darkness of the sleep from which I could not
rouse myself. I had vague perceptions of a space traveled over, of the
rolling of a carriage, of a horrible dream, in which my strength had become
exhausted; but all this was so dark and so indistinct in my mind, that these
events seemed to belong to another life than mine, and yet mixed with mine
by a fantastic duality.
"At times, the state into which I was fallen appeared so strange that
I thought I was dreaming. I arose tremblingly, my clothes were near me on
a chair; I neither remembered having undressed myself, nor going to bed.
Then by degrees the reality broke upon me, full of modest terrors: I was no
longer in the house I had dwelt in. As well as I could judge by the light
of the sun, the day was already two-thirds gone. It was the evening before
that I had fallen asleep; my sleep then must have lasted twenty-four hours!
What had taken place during this long sleep?
"I dressed myself as quickly as possible; my slow and stiff motions all
attested that the effects of the narcotic were not all yet dissipated. The
chamber was evidently furnished for the reception of a woman; and the most
finished coquette could not have formed a wish which, an casting her eyes
round the apartment, she would not have found accomplished.
"Certainly, I was not the first captive that had been shut up in this
splendid prison; but you may easily comprehend, Felton, that the more superb
the prison the greater was my terror.
"Yes, it was a prison, for I endeavored in vain to get out of it. I
sounded all the walls in the hopes of discovering a door, but everywhere the
walls returned a full and flat sound.
"I made the tour of the room at least twenty times, in search of an
outlet of some kind; there was none - I sank exhausted with fatigue and
terror into a fauteuil.
"In the meantime, night came on rapidly, and with night my terrors
increased: I did not know whether I had better remain where I was seated; it
appeared that I was surrounded with unknown dangers, into which I was about
to fall at every instant. Although I had eaten nothing since the evening
before, my fears prevented my feeling hunger.
"No noise from without, by which I could measure the time, reached me;
I only supposed it must be seven or eight o`clock in the evening, for we were
in the month of October, and it was quite dark.
"All at once, the noise of a door turning on its hinges made me start;
a globe of fire appeared above the glazed opening of the ceiling, casting a
strong light into my chamber, and I perceived with terror that a man was
standing within a few paces of me.
"A table, with two covers, bearing a supper ready prepared, stood, as
if by magic, in the middle of the apartment.
"That man was he who had pursued me during a whole year, who had vowed
my dishonor, and who, by the first words that issued from his mouth, gave me
to understand he had accomplished it the preceding night."
"Infamous villain!" murmured Felton.
"Oh, yes, infamous villain!" cried milady, seeing the interest which the
young officer, whose soul seemtd to hang on her lips, took in this strange
recital.
"Oh, yes, the infamous villain! he believed that, by having triumphed
over me in my sleep, all was completed; he came, hoping that I should accept
my shame, as my shame was consummated; he came to offer his fortune in
exchange for my love.
"All that the heart of a woman could contain of haughty contempt and
disdainful words I poured out upon this man. Doubtless he was accustomed to
such reproaches, for he listened to me calm and smiling, wit his arms
crossed over his breast; then, when he thought I had said all, he advanced
toward me; I sprang toward the table, I seized a knife, I placed it to my
breast.
"`Make one step more,` said I, `and, in addition to my dishonor, you
shall have my death to reproach yourself with!`
"There was no doubt, in my look, my voice, my whole person, that truth
of gesture, of pose and action which carries conviction to the most perverse
minds, for he stopped.
"`Your death!` said he; `or, no, you are too charming a mistress to
allow me to consent to lose you thus, after what has happened. Adieu, my
charmer; I will wait to pay you my next visit till you are in a better
humor.`
"At these words he blew a whistle: the globe of fire which lighted the
room reascended and disappeared; I found myself again in complete darkness.
The same noise of the door opening and shutting was repeated the instant
afterward, the flaming globe descended afresh, and I was completely alone.
"This moment was frightful; if I had had any doubts of my misfortune,
these doubts had vanished in an overwhelming reality: I was in the power of
a man whom I not only detested, but despised; of a man capable of anything,
and who had already given me a fatal proof of what he was able to do."
"But who, then, was this man?" asked Felton.
"I passed the night in a chair, starting at the least noise; for toward
midnight the lamp went out, and I again was in darkness. But the night
passed away, without any fresh attempt on the part of my persecutor; day came
- the table had disappeared, only I had still the knife in my hand.
"This knife was my only hope.
"I was worn out with fatigue; want of sleep inflamed my eyes; I had not
ventured to sleep a single instant. The light of day reassured me; I went
and threw myself on the bed, without parting with the liberator knife, which
I concealed under my pillow.
"When I awoke, a fresh table was served.
"This time, in spite of my terrors, in spite of my agony, I began to
feel a devouring hunger - it was forty-eight hours since I had taken any
nourishments; I ate some bread and some fruit; then remembering the narcotic
mixed with the water I had drunk, I would not touch that which was placed on
the table, but filled my glass at a marble fountain fixed in the wall, over
my toilet.
"And yet, notwithstanding these precautions, I remained for some time
in a terrible agitation of mind. But my fears were ill-founded; I passed the
day without experiencing anything of the kind I dreaded.
"I took the precaution to half empty the carafe, in order that my
suspicion might not be noticed.
"The evening came on, and with it darkness; but, however profound was
this darkness, my eyes began to be accustomed to it; I saw the table sink
through the floor; a quarter of an hour after it reappeared, bearing my
supper; and in an instant, thanks to the lamp, my chamber was once more
lighted.
"I was determined to eat only such objects as could not possibly have
anything soporific introduced into them: two eggs and some fruit composed my
repast, then I drew another glass of water from my protecting fountain, and
drank it.
"After swallowing a mouthful or two, it appeared to me not to have the
same taste that it had in the morning: a suspicion instantly seized me - I
stopped, but I had already drunk half a glassful of it.
"I threw the rest away with horror and waited, with the dew of fear upon
my brow.
"There was no doubt that some invisible witness had seen me draw the
water from that fountain, and had taken advantage of my confidence in it, the
better to assure my ruin, so cruelly resolved upon, so cruelly pursued.
"Half an hour had not passed when the same symptoms began to appear;
only, as I had only drunk half a glass of the water, I contended longer, and,
instead of falling entirely asleep, I sank into a state of drowsiness, which
left me a perception of what was passing around me, while depriving me of the
strength either to defend myself or to fly.
"I dragged myself toward the bed, to seek the only defense I had left
- my preserver knife - but I could not reach the bolster; I sank on my knees,
my hands clasped round one of the bedposts; then I felt that I was lost."
Felton became frightfully pale, and a convulsive tremor crept through
his whole body.
"And what was most terrible," continued milady, her voice altered, as
if she still experienced the same agony as at that awful minute, "was that
at this time I retained a consciousness of the danger that threatened me; was
that my soul, if I may say so, waked in my sleeping body; was that I saw, was
that I heard. It is true that all was like a dream, but it was not the less
frightful.
"I saw the lamp ascend, and leave me in darkness; then I heard the so
well-known creaking of the door, although I had heard that door open but
twice.
"I felt instinctively that some one approached me: it is said that the
doomed wretch in the deserts of America thus feels the approach of the
serpent.
"I endeavored to make an effort, I attempted to cry out; by an
incredible effort of will I even raised myself up, but only to sink down
again immediately, and to fall into the arms of my persecutor."
"Tell me who this man was!" cried the young officer.
Milady saw at a single glance all the painful feelings she inspired in
Felton, by dwelling on every detail of her recital; but she would not spare
him a single pang. The more profoundly she wounded his heart, the more
certainly he would avenge her. She continued, then, as if she had not heard
his exclamation, or as if she thought the moment was not yet come to reply
to it.
"Only this time it was no longer an inert body, without feeling, that
the villain had to deal with; I have told you that, without being able to
regain the complete exercise of my faculties, I retained the sense of my
danger. I struggled, than, with all my strength, and doubtless opposed, weak
as I was, a long resistance, for I heard him cry out:
"`These miserable Puritans! I knew very well that they tired out their
executioners, but I did not think they had been so strong against their
lovers!`
"Alas! this desperate resistance could not last long; I felt my
strength fail, and this time it was not my sleep that enabled the villain to
prevail, but my swooning."
Felton listened without uttering any word or sound but a kind of inward
expression of agony; the sweat streamed down his marble brow, and his hand,
under his coat, tore his breast in nervous excitement.
"My first impulse, on coming to myself, was to feel under my pillow for
the knife I had not been able to reach; if it had not been useful for
defense, it might at least serve in expiation.
"But on taking this knife, Felton, a terrible idea occurred to me. I
have sworn to tell you all, and I will tell you all; I have promised you the
truth - I will tell it, were it to destroy me."
"The idea came into your mind to avenge yourself on this man, did it
not?" cried Felton.
"Yes," said milady. "The idea was not that of a Christian, I knew; but,
without doubt, that eternal enemy of our souls, that lion roaring constantly
around us, breathed it into my mind. In short, what shall I say to you,
Felton?" continued milady, in the tone of a woman accusing herself of a
crime. "This idea occurred to me, and did not leave me; it is of this
homicidal thought that I now bear the punishment."
"Continue! continue!" said Felton; "I am eager to see you attain your
vengeance!"
"Oh, I resolved that it should take place as soon as possible; I had no
doubt he would return the following night. During the day I had nothing to
fear.
"When the hour of breakfast came, therefore, I did not hesitate to eat
and drink. I determined to make believe to sup, but to take nothing; I was
forced, then, by the nourishment of the morning, to combat the fast of the
evening.
"Only I concealed a glass of water, which formed part of my breakfast,
thirst having been the chief of my sufferings when I had remained forty-eight
hours without eating or drinking.
"The day passed away, without having any other influence on me than to
strengthen the resolution I had formed; only I took care that my face should
not betray the thoughts of my heart, for I had no doubt I was watched;
several times, even, I felt a smile upon my lips. Felton, I dare not tell
you at what idea I smiled; you would hold me in horror - "
"Go on! go on!" said Felton; "you see plainly that I listen, and that
I am anxious to know the end."
"Evening came, the ordinary events were accomplished: during the
darkness, as before, my table was covered, then the lamp was lighted, and I
sat down to table; I only ate some fruit; I pretended to pour out water from
the carafe, but I only drank that which I had saved in my glass; the
substitution was made so carefully that my spies, if I had any, could have
no suspicion of it.
"After supper, I exhibited the same marks of languor as on the preceding
evenings; but this time, as if I yielded to fatigue, or as if I had become
familiarized with danger, I dragged myself towards my bed, let my robe fall,
and got in.
"I found my knife where I had placed it, under my pillow, and, while
feigning to sleep, my hand grasped the handle of it convulsively.
"Two hours passed away without anything fresh occurring this time. Oh,
my God! who could have said so the evening before! I began to fear that he
would not come!
"At length I saw the lamp rise softly, and disappear in the depths of
the ceiling; my chamber was filled with darkness and obscurity, but I made
a strong effort to penetrate this darkness and obscurity.
"Nearly ten minutes passed; I heard no other noise but the beating of
my own heart.
"I implored heaven that he might come.
"At length I heard the well-known noise of the door which opened and
shut; I heard, notwithstanding the thickness of the carpet, a step which made
the floor creak; I saw, notwithstanding the darkness, a shadow which
approached my bed."
"Make haste make haste!" said Felton; "do you not see that every one of
your words burns me like molten lead."
"Then," continued milady, "then I collected all my strength, I recalled
to my mind that the moment of vengeance, or, rather, of justice, had struck.
I looked upon myself as another Judith: I gathered myself up, my knife in my
hand, and when I saw him near me, stretching out his arms to find his victim,
then, with the last cry of agony and despair, I struck him in the middle of
his breast.
"The miserable villain! he had foreseen all! his breast was covered
with a coat of mail: the knife was bent against it.
"`Ah! ah!` cried he, seizing my arm, and wrestling from me the weapon
that had so ill-seconded my design, `you want to take my life, do you, my
pretty Puritan! but that`s more than dislike, that`s ingratitude! Come,
come, calm yourself, my sweet girl! I thought you were become kinder. I am
not one of these tyrants who detain women by force. You don`t love me; with
my usual fatuity, I doubted of it; now I am convinced. To-morrow you shall
be free.`
"I had but one wish, and that was that he should kill me.
"`Beware!` said I, `for my liberty is your dishonor.`
"`Explain yourself, my pretty Sibyl.`
"`Yes; for no sooner shall I have left this place, than I will tell
everything; I will proclaim the violence you have used toward me; I will
describe my captivity. I will denounce this palace of infamy. You are
placed on high, my lord. but tremble! Above you there is the king; above
the king there is God!`
"However perfect master he was over himself my persecutor allowed a
movement of anger to escape him. I could not see the expression of his
countenance, but I felt the arm upon which my hand was placed tremble.
"`Then you shall not leave this place,` said he.
"`So be it,` cried I, `then the place of my punishment will be that of
my tomb. So be it, I will die here, and you will see if a phantom that
accuses is not more terrible than a living being that threatens.`
"`You shall have no weapon left in your power.`
"`There is a weapon which despair has placed within the reach of every
creature that has the courage to make use of it. I will allow myself to die
with hunger.`
"`Come, come,` said the wretch, `is not peace much better than such a
war as that? I will restore you to liberty this momett; I will proclaim you
a piece of immaculate virtue; I will name you the Lucretia of England.`
"`And I will say that you are the Sextus; I will denounce you before men
as I have denounced you before God; and if it be necessary that, like
Lucretia, I should sign my accusation with my blood, I will sign it.`
"`Ah!` said my enemy, in a jeering tone, `that`s quite another thing.
Ma foi! everything considered, you are very well off here, you shall want
for nothing, and if you choose to die of hunger - why, that will be your own
fault.`
"At these words he retired; I heard the door open and shut, and I
remained overwhelmed, still less, I confess it, by my grief than by the shame
of not having avenged myself.
"He kept his word. All the day, all the next night passed away, without
my seeing him again. But I also kept my word with him, and I neither ate nor
drank; I was, as I had told him, resolved to die of hunger.
"I passed the day and the night in prayer, for I hoped that God would
pardon me my suicide.
"The second night the door opened; I was lying on the floor, for my
strength began to abandon me.
"At the noise I raised myself up on one hand.
"`Well!` said a voice which vibrated in too terrible a manner in my ear
not to be recognized; `well! are we softened a little, will we not pay for
our liberty with a single promise of silence? Come, I am a good sort of a
prince,` added he, `and although I am not very partial to Puritans, I do them
justice, as well as to female Puritans, when they are pretty. Come, take a
little oath for me on the cross, I won`t ask anything more of you.`
"`Upon the cross,` cried I, rising up, for at that abhorred voice I had
recovered all my strength; `upon the cross! I swear that no promise, no
menace, no force, no torture shall close my mouth; upon the cross! I swear
to denounce you everywhere as a murderer, as a despoiler of honor, as a base
coward; upon the cross! I swear, if I ever leave this place, to call down
vengeance upon you from the whole human race.`
"`Beware!` said the voice, in a threatening accent that I had never yet
heard, `I have an extraordinary means, which I will not employ, but in the
last extremity, to close your mouth, or at least to prevent any one from
believing a word you may utter.`
"I mustered all my strength to reply to him with a burst of laughter.
"He saw that, from that time, it was an exterminal war, a war to the
death between us.
"`Listen,` said he, `I give you the rest of the night and the day of
to-morrow; reflect, promise to be silent, and riches, consideration, even
honor shall surround you; threaten to speak, and I will condemn you to
infamy.`
"`You,` cried I, `you!`
"`To interminable, ineffaceable infamy!`
"`You,` repeated I. Oh! I declare to you, Felton, I thought him mad!
"`Yes, I,` replied he.
"`Oh! leave me,` said I, `begone, if you do not desire to see me dash
my head against that wall before your eyes!`
"`Very well! it is you own doing; till to-morrow evening, then!`
"`Till to-morrow evening, then,` replied I, allowing myself to fall, and
biting the carpet with rage.
Felton leaned for support upon a piece of furniture, and milady saw,
with the joy of a demon, that his strength would fail him, perhaps before the
end of her recital.
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