of the room, she frightened me so! I was not even able to stand up--
I sank back in my chair; I stared horror-struck at the calm
blue eyes that were only looking at me with a gentle surprise.
To say they affected me like the eyes of a serpent is to say nothing.
I felt her soul in them, looking into mine--looking, if such a thing
can be, unconsciously to her own mortal self. I tell you my impression,
in all its horror and in all its folly! That woman is destined
(without knowing it herself) to be the evil genius of my life.
Her innocent eyes saw hidden capabilities of wickedness in me that I
was not aware of myself, until I felt them stirring under her look.
If I commit faults in my life to come--if I am even guilty of crimes--
she will bring the retribution, without (as I firmly believe)
any conscious exercise of her own will. In one indescribable
moment I felt all this--and I suppose my face showed it.
The good artless creature was inspired by a sort of gentle alarm
for me. "I am afraid the heat of the room is too much for you;
will you try my smelling bottle?" I heard her say those kind words;
and I remember nothing else--I fainted. When I recovered my senses,
the company had all gone; only the lady of the house was with me.
For the moment I could say nothing to her; the dreadful impression
that I have tried to describe to you came back to me with the coming
back of my life. As soon I could speak, I implored her to tell me
the whole truth about the woman whom I had supplanted. You see,
I had a faint hope that her good character might not really be deserved,
that her noble letter was a skilful piece of hypocrisy--in short,
that she secretly hated me, and was cunning enough to hide it.
No! the lady had been her friend from her girlhood, was as familiar
with her as if they had been sisters--knew her positively to be as good,
as innocent, as incapable of hating anybody, as the greatest saint
that ever lived. My one last hope, that I had only felt an ordinary