Eduard came. . . . Oh, he was like an evil spirit! Oh, when I dream of him now, I dream of a devil! Addie, Eduard came! . . . And it was he . . . it was he . . ."
"I know, Emilie, I know."
The words burst from her in a scream:
"It was he . . . he . . . he . . . who murdered Henri!"
"Hush, Emilie."
"Oh, I can't keep silent, I can't keep silent for ever; it chokes me, it chokes me, here!"
She uttered loud, hysterical cries, twisting herself against the chair; her eyes stared distractedly out of her face; her hair hung loose about her cheeks; her features were pale and distorted.
"It was after an evening when he had been playing in the circus . . . and Eduard . . . Eduard . . ."
"I know, I know. . . . Hush, Emilie!"
"He waited for him . . . in the passage in front of the house where we lived . . . and . . . and he called him names . . . they quarrelled. . . . Then . . . then he stabbed him . . . with a knife!"
"Hush, Emilie, hush!"
But she screamed it out: her screeches rang through the room. She wriggled like a madwoman against his knees; he stroked her dishevelled hair, to quiet her.
"Oh, your parents, your dear parents, Addie: they never asked me anything! . . . They came and fetched me: oh, Addie, that journey home, with his coffin between us, oh, those formalities at the frontiers! . . . Oh, Addie, your dear parents: they saved me: I was mad, I was mad, I was mad at that time! Now it's all coming back to me; I can't keep it to myself any longer! . . . You see, he
