Chapter 22 A
Perilous MomentI lay with every nerve strained
to its utmost tension, listening for the least movement on the part
of the maddened woman which might indicate she was about to stab me
then and there.
In the silence that followed, if she did not hear the beating of
my heart it was only because her own stormy emotions had rendered
her deaf and blind to everything else.
For a time her rapid breathing continued to warm my uncovered
neck. Then she snapped-to the locket and let it fall, and rose from
my side to pace the floor of the room with swift, irregular
steps.
Fauchette, who must have been anxious to know how I was faring,
now came back without waiting to be summoned.
“Well?” the Princess demanded, halting in her promenade.
“Gregory has gone for M. Petrovitch, M
