Remember her kindly. And you will tarry here
till they find you, eh?"
"Vicomte, you were a brave man once. Be brave again. Do not torture
me like this. Take your sword and run it through my heart, and I shall
thank you."
Somberly the vicomte gazed down at him. He drowned the glimmer of pity
in the thought of how this man had thwarted him in the past. "What!"
he said, "spoil the comedy with a death-scene? I am too much of an
artist, Monsieur. I had rather you should live." He went back into
the hut. "The Chevalier grows restive, like an audience which can not
see what is going on behind the curtain. Will you give me a kiss of
your own volition, or must I use force again? It is like sin; the
first step leads to another."
Madame stood passive. She would have killed this man with laughter on
her lips had a knife been in her hand. He came toward her again. She
strove to put the table between. He laughed, leaping the table
lightly. She fled to the door, but ere she had taken a dozen steps he
was in front of her. The Chevalier heard all these sounds. He prayed
to God to end his miseries quickly.
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