, who fell dead on the floor, and Agricola, who sank,
dangerously wounded, by the side of the unfortunate victim. This scene of
murder, rapid as thought, took place in the midst of a half obscurity.
Suddenly the faint light from the chamber was completely extinguished,
and a second after, Djalma felt his arm seized in the darkness by an iron
grasp, and the voice of Faringhea whispered: "You are avenged. Come; we
can secure our retreat." Inert, stupefied at what he had done, Djalma
offered no resistance, and let himself be dragged by the half-caste into
the inner apartment, from which there was another way out.

When Rodin had exclaimed, in his admiration of the generative power of
thought, that the word NECKLACE had been the germ of the infernal project
he then contemplated, it was, that chance had brought to his mind the
remembrance of the too famous affair of the diamond necklace, in which a
woman, thanks to her vague resemblance to Queen Marie Antoinette, being
dressed like that princess, and favored by the uncertainty of a twilight,
had played so skillfully the part of her unfortunate sovereign, as to
make the Cardinal Prince de Rohan, though familiar with the court, the
complete dupe of the illusion. Having once determined on his execrable
design, Rodin had sent Jacques Dumoulin to Sainte-Colombe, without
telling him the real object of his mission, to ask this experienced woman
to procure a fine young girl, tall, and with red hair. Once found, a
costume exactly resembling that worn by Adrienne, and of which the
Princess de Saint-Dizier gave the description to Rodin (though herself
ignorant of this new plot), was to complete the deception. The rest is
known, or may be guessed. The unfortunate girl, who acted as Adrienne's
double, believed she was only aiding in a jest. As for Agricola, he had
received a letter, in which he was invited to a meeting that might be of
the greatest importance to Mdlle. de Cardoville.

[43] See the strange effect of hasheesh. To the effect of this is
attributed the kind of hallucination which seized on those unhappy
persons, whom the Prince of the Assassins (the Old Man of the Mountain)
used as the instruments of his vengeance.

CHAPTER LXV.

THE NUPTIAL BED.

The mild light of a circular lamp of oriental alabaster, suspended from
the ceiling by three silver chains, spreads a faint lustre through the
bed-chamber of Adrienne de Cardoville.

The large ivory bedstead, inlaid with