The suppressed passion, rising and throbbing like a white flame in her

face and eyes, made her stop for a moment, breathing hard. Looking up

she met Sir Norman's gaze, and as if there was something in its quiet,

pitying tenderness that mesmerized her into calm, she steadily and

rapidly went on.

"I awoke to a new life, after that; but not to one of freedom and

happiness. I was as closely, even more closely, guarded than ever; and I

found, when too late, that I had bartered myself, soul and body, for an

empty promise. The only difference was, that I saw more new faces; for

the dwarf began to bring his confederates and subordinates to the house,

and would have me dressed up and displayed to them, with a demoniac

pride that revolted me beyond everything else, if I were a painted

puppet or an overgrown wax doll. Most of the precious crew of scoundrels

had wives of their own and these began to be brought with them of

an evening; and then, what with dancing, and music, and cards, and

feasting, we had quite a carnival of it till morning.

"I liked this part of the business excessively well at first, and I was

flattered and fooled to the top of my bent, and made from the first, the

reigning belle and queen. There was more policy in that than admiration,

I fancy; for the dwarf was all-powerful among them and dreaded

accordingly, and I was the dwarf's pet and plaything, and all-powerful

with him. The hideous creature had a most hideous passion for me then,

and I could wind him round my finger as easily as Delilah and Samson;

and by his command and their universal consent, the mimicry of royalty

was begun, and I was made mistress and sovereign head, even over the

dwarf himself. It was a queer whim; but that crooked slug was always

taking such odd notions into his head, which nobody there dared laugh

at. The band were bound together by a terrible oath, women and all; but

they had to take another oath then, that of allegiance to me.

"It quite turned my brain at first; and my eyes were so dazzled by the

pitiful glistening of the pageant, the sham splendor of the sham court,

and the half-mocking, half-serious homage paid me, that I could see

nothing beyond the shining surface, and the blackness, and corruption,

and horror within, were altogether lost upon me. This feeling increased

when, as months and months went by, they were added to the mock peers of

the Midnight Court, real nobles from that of St. Charles. I did not know

then that they were ruined gamesters, vicious profligates, and desperate

broken-down roues, who would have gone to pandemonium itself, nightly,

for the mad license and lawless excesses they could indulge in here to

their heart's content. But I got tired of it all, after a time: my

eyes began slowly to open, and my heart--at least, what little of that

article I ever had--turned sick with horror within me at what I had

done. The awful things I saw, the fearful deeds that were perpetrated,

would curdle your very blood with horror, were I to relate them. You

have seen a specimen yourself, in the cold-blooded murder of that wretch

half an hour ago; and his is not the only life crying for vengeance on

these men. The slightest violation of their oath was punished, and

the doom of traitors and informers was instant death, whether male or

female. The sham trials and executions always took place in presence

of the whole court, to strike a salutary terror into them, and never

occurred but once a week, when the whole band regularly met. My power

continued undiminished; for they knew either the dwarf or I must be

supreme; and though the queen was bad, the prince was worse. The said

prince would willingly have pulled me down from my eminence, and have

mounted it himself; but that he was probably restrained by a feeling

that law-makers should not be law-breakers, and that, if he set the

example, there would be no end to the insubordination and rebellion that

would follow."




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