“Admiration changed to curiosity. I stepped nearer, bringing the light so that while it did not shine strongly on her eyes, it fell upon the white drapery. Man is but a weak creature, liable to be swayed by evil passions. Curiosity has always been my besetting sin, and sudden temptations ought to be included among the other sudden dangers in the prayer-book. In consequence of the position of her arm, the clothes had fallen back from her shoulders, but that envious curl was cruelly unsatisfying; the white drapery rose and fell with the long breathing of her sleep. My first impulse was to retire noiselessly, but curiosity conquered; she slept so sweetly, so gracefully, and so soundly. Approaching nearer, stealthily, step by step, I carefully put forward one hand, and gently touched the curl--she did not move--then quietly gathering it up, I began slowly drawing it aside. It lifted and fell with the marble neck beneath like a brown vein across it, but no other motion testified that life pervaded her unconscious beauty.” A pause; the chorus, excited--“What next? what next?” “Gentlemen, it would have been a shameful act to take advantage of her innocent sleep--a mean, unworthy, contemptible act. It is enough to say, gentlemen, I did not commit it--for at that moment she moved.” CHORUS--“Oh!” “She moved, and was evidently about to wake.” CHORUS--“What did you do then?” “Modesty is another of my failings; it is no small matter to be found by a lady in her bed-room, and you must recollect my dress was scanty. Wishing, therefore, to spare her feelings as much as my own, I put out the light, and standing still, listened. From the sound as she moved, it was clear that she was awake and sitting up in bed. I kept as quiet as a mouse, no longer daring to stir and hardly daring to breathe. “‘Who is there?’ asked the sweetest little sleepy voice in the world; it was evidently time for me to leave if the feelings of either side were to be spared. “‘Husband, is that you? How late you are, Oscar. I wish there were no balls; you have let the light go out and will have to undress in the dark, and you have been drinking; you do not answer, what are you mumbling in that husky voice; you do not walk steady, you shuffle with your feet; let me smell your breath, sir!’ “Another of my failings is inability to say no. A moment’s consideration would have told me it was far from honorable to assume the place of another person, and that person the husband of a pretty woman; but in my state of hesitancy or virtuous indignation at being falsely accused of drinking, or without really anticipating what would happen, I obeyed; and bringing my face near hers, encountered the sweetest pair of lips in Christendom. “‘I am not quite sure,’ she said, ‘let me see again.’ “Now that was clearly her fault, and left me no excuse for refusing her absolute satisfaction. “‘Make haste, Oscar,’ she whispered, ‘how cold you are.’”