to a corner of the
room like a panther which crouches for a spring.

"Oh, growl as much as you please," cried Lord de Winter, "but don't try
to bite, for I warn you that it would be to your disadvantage. There
are here no procurators who regulate successions beforehand. There is no
knight-errant to come and seek a quarrel with me on account of the fair
lady I detain a prisoner; but I have judges quite ready who will quickly
dispose of a woman so shameless as to glide, a bigamist, into the bed of
Lord de Winter, my brother. And these judges, I warn you, will soon send
you to an executioner who will make both your shoulders alike."

The eyes of Milady darted such flashes that although he was a man and
armed before an unarmed woman, he felt the chill of fear glide through
his whole frame. However, he continued all the same, but with increasing
warmth: "Yes, I can very well understand that after having inherited the
fortune of my brother it would be very agreeable to you to be my heir
likewise; but know beforehand, if you kill me or cause me to be killed,
my precautions are taken. Not a penny of what I possess will pass into
your hands. Were you not already rich enough--you who possess nearly
a million? And could you not stop your fatal career, if you did not do
evil for the infinite and supreme joy of doing it? Oh, be assured, if
the memory of my brother were not sacred to me, you should rot in a
state dungeon or satisfy the curiosity of sailors at Tyburn. I will be
silent, but you must endure your captivity quietly. In fifteen or twenty
days I shall set out for La Rochelle with the army; but on the eve of
my departure a vessel which I shall see depart will take you hence and
convey you to our colonies in the south. And be assured that you shall
be accompanied by one who will blow your brains out at the first attempt
you make to return to England or the Continent."

Milady listened with an attention that dilated her inflamed eyes.

"Yes, at present," continued Lord de Winter, "you will remain in this
castle. The walls are thick, the doors strong, and the bars solid;
besides, your window opens immediately over the sea. The men of my
crew, who are devoted to me for life and death, mount guard around this
apartment, and watch all the passages that lead to the courtyard. Even
if you gained the yard, there would still be three iron gates for you
to pass. The order is positive. A step, a gesture, a word, on your part,
denoti