till at a certain spot she stopped. From the louder
sound of our footsteps, I concluded that we were close to the house.
"Now silence!" said she in a whisper, "and mind what you are about. Do
not overlook any of my signals; I cannot speak without terrible
danger for both of us, and at this moment your life is of the first
importance." Then she added: "My mistress is in a room on the ground
floor. To get into it we must pass through her husband's room and close
to his bed. Do not cough, walk softly, and follow me closely, so as not
to knock against the furniture or tread anywhere but on the carpets I
laid down."

"'Here the lover gave an impatient growl, as a man annoyed by so much
delay.

"'The woman said no more, I heard a door open, I felt the warm air of
the house, and we stole in like thieves. Presently the girl's light hand
removed the bandage. I found myself in a lofty and spacious room, badly
lighted by a smoky lamp. The window was open, but the jealous husband
had fitted it with iron bars. I was in the bottom of a sack, as it were.

"'On the ground a woman was lying on a mat; her head was covered with
a muslin veil, but I could see her eyes through it full of tears and
flashing with the brightness of stars; she held a handkerchief in her
mouth, biting it so hard that her teeth were set in it: I never saw
finer limbs, but her body was writhing with pain like a harp-string
thrown on the fire. The poor creature had made a sort of struts of her
legs by setting her feet against a chest of drawers, and with both hands
she held on to the bar of a chair, her arms outstretched, with every
vein painfully swelled. She might have been a criminal undergoing
torture. But she did not utter a cry; there was not a sound, all
three speechless and motionless. The husband snored with reassuring
regularity. I wanted to study the waiting-woman's face, but she had
put on a mask, which she had removed, no doubt, during our drive, and
I could see nothing but a pair of black eyes and a pleasingly rounded
figure.

"'The lover threw some towels over his mistress' legs and folded the
muslin veil double over her face. As soon as I had examined the lady
with care, I perceived from certain symptoms which I had noted once
before on a very sad occasion in my life, that the infant was dead. I
turned to the maid in order to tell her this. Instantly the suspicious
stranger drew his dagger; but I had time to explain the matter to the
woman, who