ms, the prince advanced hastily several steps, but he
only touched a tapestried wall; he followed it, hoping to find the door,
and he at length found it; but it was locked, and resisted all his
efforts. He continued his researches, and came to a fireplace with no
fire in it, and to a second door, equally fast. In a few moments, he had
thus made the circle of the room, and found himself again at the
fireplace. The anxiety of the prince increased more and more. He called
Faringhea, in a voice trembling with passion. There was no answer.
Profound silence reigned without, and complete darkness within. Ere long,
a perfumed vapor, of indescribable sweetness, but very subtle and
penetrating, spread itself insensibly through the little room in which
Djalma was. It might be, that the orifice of a tube, passing through one
of the doors of the room, introduced this balmy current. At the height of
angry and terrible thoughts, Djalma paid no attention to this odor--but
soon the arteries of his temples began to beat violently, a burning heat
seemed to circulate rapidly through his veins, he felt a sensation of
pleasure, his resentment died gradually away, and a mild, ineffable
torpor crept over him, without his being fully conscious of the mental
transformation that was taking place. Yet, by a last effort of the
wavering will, Djalma advanced once more to try and open one of the
doors; he found it indeed, but at this place the vapor was so strong,
that its action redoubled, and, unable to move a step further, Djalma was
obliged to support himself by leaning against the wall.[43]

Then a strange thing happened. A faint light spread itself gradually
through an adjoining apartment, and Djalma now perceived, for the first
time, the existence of a little round window, in the wall of the room in
which he was. On the side of the prince, this opening was protected by a
slight but strong railing, which hardly intercepted the view. On the
other side a thick piece of plate-glass was fixed at the distance of two
or three inches from the railing in question. The room, which Djalma saw
through this window, and through which the faint light was now gradually
spreading, was richly furnished. Between two windows, hung with crimson
silk curtains, stood a kind of wardrobe, with a looking-glass front;
opposite the fireplace in which glowed the burning coals, was a long,
wide divan, furnished with cushions.

In another second a woman entered this apartme