exclaimed, unmoved by the looks of indescribable
horror which she threw around.

"When her eyes caught sight of the countenance of that lifeless being,
they remained fixed with frenzied wildness in their sockets, and even if
there had been no gag between her teeth, I do not believe that she could
have uttered a syllable. And now commenced the second act in this
appalling tragedy! While one of the bravoes held the countess in his
iron grasp, in such a manner that she could not avert her head, the
other, who had once been a surgeon, tore away the garments from the
corpse, and commenced the task which I had before assigned to him. And
as the merciless scalpel hacked and hewed away at the still almost
palpitating flesh of the murdered man, in whose breast the dagger
remained deeply buried,--a ferocious joy--a savage, hyena-like triumph
filled my soul; and I experienced no remorse for the deed I had done!
Far--very far from that--for as the work progressed, I exclaimed--

"'Behold, Vitangela, how the scalpel hews that form so loved by thee!
Now hack away at the countenance--deface that beauty--pick out those
mild blue eyes!'--and I laughed madly!

"The countess fainted, and I ordered her to be carried back to her
apartment, where Margaretha awaited her. Indeed I had naturally foreseen
that insensibility would result from the appalling spectacle which I
compelled my wife to witness: and Margaretha was prepared to breathe
dreadful menaces in her ears the moment she should recover--menaces of
death to herself and both her children if she should reveal, even to her
father confessor, one tittle of the scene which that night had been
enacted! The surgeon-bravo did his work bravely; and the man who had
dishonored me was reduced to naught save a skeleton! The flesh and the
garments were buried deep in the cellar; the skeleton was conveyed to my
own chamber, and suspended to a beam in the closet where you, Francisco,
and your bride, are destined to behold it--ALONG WITH ANOTHER!

"My vengeance was thus far gratified--the bravos were dismissed, and I
locked myself up in my chamber for several days, to brood upon all I had
done, and occasionally to feast my eyes with the grim remains of him who
had dared to love my wife. During those days of seclusion I would see no
one save the servant who brought me my meals. From him I learnt that the
countess was dangerously ill--that she was indeed dying, and that she
besought me to visit her