In doing this her jealousy so bruised and tore the palpitating
throat of her rival, taken by surprise at the sudden attack, that she
left the bloody marks of her nails, feeling a sort of pleasure in
making her submit to so degrading a prostitution. In the feeble
struggle which Marie made against the furious woman, her hair became
unfastened and fell in undulating curls about her shoulders; her face
glowed with outraged modesty, and tears made their burning way along
her cheeks, heightening the brilliancy of her eyes, as she quivered
with shame before the looks of the assembled men. The hardest judge
would have believed in her innocence when he saw her sorrow.
Hatred is so uncalculating that Madame du Gua did not perceive she had
overshot her mark, and that no one listened to her as she cried
triumphantly: "You shall now see, gentlemen, whether I have slandered
that horrible creature."
"Not so horrible," said the bass voice of the guest who had thrown the
first stone. "But for my part, I like such horrors."
"Here," continued the cruel woman, "is an order signed by Laplace, and
counter-signed by Dubois, minister of war." At these names several
heads were turned to her. "Listen to the wording of it," she went on.
"'The military citizen commanders of all grades, the district
administrators, the /procureur-syndics/, et cetera, of the
insurgent departments, and particularly those of the localities in
which the ci-devant Marquis de Montauran, leader of the brigands
and otherwise known as the Gars, may be found, are hereby
commanded to give aid and assistance to the /citoyenne/ Marie
Verneuil and to obey the orders which she may give them at her
discretion.
Pages:
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224