"Zambinella fell on his knees, and replied only by hanging his head.

"'Ah! you are a woman!' cried the artist in a frenzy; 'for even a--'

"He did not finish the sentence.

"'No,' he continued, 'even _he_ could not be so utterly base.'

"'Oh, do not kill me!' cried Zambinella, bursting into tears. 'I
consented to deceive you only to gratify my comrades, who wanted an
opportunity to laugh.'

"'Laugh!' echoed the sculptor, in a voice in which there was a ring
of infernal ferocity. 'Laugh! laugh! You dared to make sport of a
man's passion--you?'

"'Oh, mercy!' cried Zambinella.

"'I ought to kill you!' shouted Sarrasine, drawing his sword in an
outburst of rage. 'But,' he continued, with cold disdain, 'if I
searched your whole being with this blade, should I find there any
sentiment to blot out, anything with which to satisfy my thirst for
vengeance? You are nothing! If you were a man or a woman, I would kill
you, but--'

"Sarrasine made a gesture of disgust, and turned his face away;
thereupon he noticed the statue.

"'And that is a delusion!' he cried.