take what came, and wait my chance. The fellow's coarse hand
felt about among my curls--those curls in which only a woman's
fingers had ever wandered. The next instant he gripped my ear
and a pain shot through me as if I had been touched with a hot
iron. I bit my lip to stifle a cry, and I felt the blood run
warm down my neck and back.

"There, thank Heaven, that's over," said the fellow, giving me a
friendly pat on the head. "You're a brave girl, signora, I'll
say that for you, and I only wish you'd have better taste than to
love a Frenchman. You can blame him and not me for what I have
done."

What could I do save to lie still and grind my teeth at my own
helplessness? At the same time my pain and my rage were always
soothed by the reflection that I had suffered for the woman whom
I loved. It is the custom of men to say to ladies that they
would willingly endure any pain for their sake, but it was my
privilege to show that I had said no more than I meant. I
thought also how nobly I would seem to have acted if ever the
story came to be told, and how proud the regiment of Conflans
might well be of their colonel. These thoughts helped me to
suffer in silence while the blood still trickled over my neck and
dripped upon the stone floor. It was that sound which nearly led
to my destruction.


"She's bleeding fast," said one of the valets. "You had best
fetch a surgeon or you will find her dead in the morning."