And now violently the rancour of Helene Vauquier's feelings burst
out once more.
"For her the fine clothes, the pleasure, and the happiness. For
me--I could go to bed!"
Hanaud looked again at the description which Helene Vauquier had
written out, and read it through carefully. Then he asked a
question, of which Ricardo did not quite see the drift.
"So," he said, "when this morning you suggested to Monsieur the
Commissaire that it would be advisable for you to go through Mlle.
Celie's wardrobe, you found that nothing more had been taken away
except the white lace coat?"
"That is so."
"Very well. Now, after Mlle. Celie had gone down the stairs--"
"I put the lights out in her room and, as she had ordered me to
do, I went to bed. The next thing that I remember--but no! It
terrifies me too much to think of it."
Helene shuddered and covered her face spasmodically with her
hands. Hanaud drew her hands gently down.
"Courage! You are safe now, mademoiselle. Calm yourself!"
She lay back with her eyes closed.
"Yes, yes; it is true. I am safe now. But oh! I feel I shall never
dare to sleep again!" And the tears swam in her eyes. "I woke up
with a feeling of being suffocated. Mon Dieu! There was the light
burning in the room, and a woman, the strange woman with the
strong hands, was holding me down by the shoulders, while a man
with his cap drawn over his eyes and a little black moustache
pressed over my lips a pad from which a horribly sweet and sickly
taste filled my mouth. Oh, I was terrified! I could not scream. I
struggled. The woman told me roughly to keep quiet. But I could
not. I must struggle. And then with a brutality unheard of she
dragged me up on to my knees while the man kept the pad right over
my mouth. The man, with the arm which was free, held me close to
him, and she bound my hands with a cord behind me. Look!"
She held out her wrists. They were terribly bruised. Red and angry
lines showed where the cord had cut deeply into her flesh.
"Then they flung me down again upon my back, and the next thing I
remember is the doctor standing over me and this kind nurse
supporting me."
She sank back exhausted in her chair and wiped her forehead with
her handkerchief. The sweat stood upon it in beads.
"Thank you, mademoiselle," said Hanaud gravely. "This has been a
trying ordeal for you. I understand that. But we are coming to the
end. I want you to read this description of Mlle. Celie through
again to make sure that nothing is omitted." He gave the paper
into the maid's hands. "It will be advertised, so it is important
that it should be complete. See that you have left out nothing."