In such
tones the last prayers ascend from dying men on the battlefield. I
stopped, for she was weeping. _Grand Dieu_! I had reaped an actor's
reward, the success of a counterfeit passion displayed at the cost of
five francs paid at the theatre door. I had drawn tears from her.
"'If I had known----' she said.
"'Do not finish the sentence,' I broke in. 'Even now I love you well
enough to murder you----'
"She reached for the bell-pull. I burst into a roar of laughter.
"'Do not call any one,' I said. 'I shall leave you to finish your
life in peace. It would be a blundering kind of hatred that would
murder you! You need not fear violence of any kind; I have spent a
whole night at the foot of your bed without----'
"'Monsieur----' she said, blushing; but after that first impulse of
modesty that even the most hardened women must surely own, she flung a
scornful glance at me, and said:
"'You must have been very cold.'
"'Do you think that I set such value on your beauty, madame,' I
answered, guessing the thoughts that moved her. 'Your beautiful face
is for me a promise of a soul yet more beautiful. Madame, those to
whom a woman is merely a woman can always purchase odalisques fit for
the seraglio, and achieve their happiness at a small cost.
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