BLUE- there under pain of my extreme displeasure, and

BEARD of forfeiting all my love for you, and all your
happiness for the future.
She promised exactly to observe all that he com-
manded, and, after he had warmly embraced her,
he mounted his equipage and drove away.
The neighbours and friends did not wait to be
invited to come to the country house, and to relieve
the dulness of the young bride; and they were
extremely desirous of being shown everything in
the house, and of turning out all the cupboards,
a thing they had never before ventured to do, they
had not even asked to be allowed to do, so great
was their dread of Blue-beard.
Now, however, that he was away, they scattered
through the house, they ran upstairs and down,
they pried into every chamber, they explored every
cupboard, and searched every drawer. They
examined all the furniture, they went through
all the house-linen, they examined and admired
the tapestries, the carpets, the curtains, the cover-
lets; then they looked through all the plate to
make sure that it was of real silver and gold,
and not plated wares. They turned over all
the books in the library, they tried on all the
family jewels, they even examined all the bottles
of preserved fruit, and pots of crystallised ginger,
in the storeroom. The mistress of the house
took little pleasure in seeing and showing all
these treasures to her friends, for she was most
inquisitive to know what there was in the cabinet
at the end of the picture gallery. Indeed, so im-
patient was she to satisfy her curiosity, that she
deserted her guests, and when they were all
engaged elsewhere, she slipped into the gallery
by herself and put the key into the door which
she had been forbidden to open.
She paused there for one moment, with a little
nesitenn: because she remembered her husband’s

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