threats; but her curiosity overcame all scruple
of disobeying him, and fears for herself, and she
tremblingly opened the door of the cabinet.
At first she saw nothing, for the windows were
all shut. But after a while her eyes became
accustomed to the gloom, and she saw that the
floor was all stained with blood, and that along
the walls hung the dead bodies of a great many
young women. These were the wives Blue-beard
had married in succession, and had put to death,
one after the other.
She thought she would have died of horror, and
the key which she had withdrawn from the door
dropped from her hand.
After a while she recovered her senses, picked up
the key, fastened the door, and hastened to her
bedroom, to throw herself on a couch and com-
pose her mind. But she could find no rest, so
violent was her agitation, and she begged her
sister, who was called Anne, to dismiss her guests,
on the plea that she was ill and could not enter-
tain them further.
When alone, the young wife noticed that there was
a stain of blood on the key. She at once tried to
wash it off, but neither soap nor water would
remove it. Then she rubbed the key with sand-
paper, but this was equally in vain. If she rubbed
out the stain of blood on one side, it broke out
on the other side of the key.
Blue-beard returned from his travels that same
evening. He said that he had received letters
whilst on his journey which informed him that
the business on which he had started had come
to a satisfactory termination, and that his presence
was no longer needed.
His wife did all that she could to show him that
she was delighted at his return. But she called
to her a little foot-page, and said: ‘Run, run, as fast
as your feet will bear you to my home. es two
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BLUE-
BEARD