he preceding
evening; but this time, as I yielded to fatigue, or as if I had become
familiarized with danger, I dragged myself toward my bed, let my robe
fall, and lay down.

"I found my knife where I had placed it, under my pillow, and while
feigning to sleep, my hand grasped the handle of it convulsively.

"Two hours passed away without anything fresh happening. Oh, my God! who
could have said so the evening before? I began to fear that he would not
come.

"At length I saw the lamp rise softly, and disappear in the depths of
the ceiling; my chamber was filled with darkness and obscurity, but I
made a strong effort to penetrate this darkness and obscurity.

"Nearly ten minutes passed; I heard no other noise but the beating of my
own heart. I implored heaven that he might come.

"At length I heard the well-known noise of the door, which opened and
shut; I heard, notwithstanding the thickness of the carpet, a step which
made the floor creak; I saw, notwithstanding the darkness, a shadow
which approached my bed."

"Haste! haste!" said Felton; "do you not see that each of your words
burns me like molten lead?"

"Then," continued Milady, "then I collected all my strength; I recalled
to my mind that the moment of vengeance, or rather, of justice, had
struck. I looked upon myself as another Judith; I gathered myself up, my
knife in my hand, and when I saw him near me, stretching out his arms to
find his victim, then, with the last cry of agony and despair, I struck
him in the middle of his breast.

"The miserable villain! He had foreseen all. His breast was covered with
a coat-of-mail; the knife was bent against it.

"'Ah, ah!' cried he, seizing my arm, and wresting from me the weapon
that had so badly served me, 'you want to take my life, do you, my
pretty Puritan? But that's more than dislike, that's ingratitude! Come,
come, calm yourself, my sweet girl! I thought you had softened. I am not
one of those tyrants who detain women by force. You don't love me. With
my usual fatuity I doubted it; now I am convinced. Tomorrow you shall be
free.'

"I had but one wish; that was that he should kill me.

"'Beware!' said I, 'for my liberty is your dishonor.'

"'Explain yourself, my pretty sibyl!'

"'Yes; for as soon as I leave this place I will tell everything. I
will proclaim the violence you have used toward me. I will describe my
captivity. I will denounce this place of infamy. You are placed on high,
my Lord, but