A
miner, boring down into the earth, strikes a hidden stone that
brings him to a dead stand. So Angelique struck a hard, dark
thought far down in the depths of her secret soul. She drew it to
the light, and gazed on it shocked and frightened.
"I did not mean that!" cried the startled girl, crossing herself.
"Mere de Dieu! I did not conceive a wicked thought like that! I
will not! I cannot contemplate that!" She shut her eyes, pressing
both hands over them as if resolved not to look at the evil thought
that, like a spirit of darkness, came when evoked, and would not
depart when bidden. She sprang up trembling in every limb, and
supporting herself against a table, seized a gilded carafe and
poured out a full goblet of wine, which she drank. It revived her
fainting spirit. She drank another, and stood up herself again,
laughing at her own weakness.
She ran to the window, and looked out into the night. The bright
stars shone overhead; the lights in the street reassured her. The
people passing by and the sound of voices brought back her familiar
mood.
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