"My nerves are horribly upset," he said. "I believe that I shall have to go to bed; my head is on fire, and this turban weighs a hundred pounds." "_O mon Dieu_!" said I, "if you go now, this night will seem interminable to me, and the party stupid beyond endurance. Go into some more retired room and try taking off your turban for a few moments; we will ask for a few drops of ether to quiet your nerves." "Yes, you are right, my dear, good Juliette, my angel. There's a boudoir at the end of the gallery, where we probably shall be alone; a moment of rest will cure me." As he spoke, he led me hastily in the direction of the boudoir; he seemed to fly rather than walk. I heard steps coming after us. I turned and saw Henryet coming nearer and nearer and looking as if he were pursuing us. I thought that he had gone mad. The terror which Leoni could not hide put the finishing touch to the confusion of my ideas. A superstitious fear took possession of me; my blood congealed as in a nightmare; and it was impossible for me to take another step. At that moment Henryet overtook us and laid a hand, which seemed to me metallic, on Leoni's shoulder. Leoni stood still, as if struck by lightning, and nodded his head affirmatively, as if he had divined a question or an injunction in that terrifying silence. Thereupon Henryet walked away, and I felt that I could move my feet once more. I had the strength to follow Leoni into the boudoir, where I fell on an ottoman, as pale and terror-stricken as he. VII He remained some time thus; then, suddenly collecting his strength, he threw himself at my feet. "Juliette," he said, "I am lost unless you love me to frenzy." "O heaven! what does that mean?" I cried wildly, throwing my arms around his neck. "And you do not love me that way!" he continued, in an agony of despair. "I am lost, am I not?" "I love you with all the strength of my heart!" I cried, weeping. "What must I do to save you?" "Ah! you would never consent!" he replied, with a discouraged air. "I am the most miserable of men; you are the only woman I have ever loved, Juliette, and when I am on the point of possessing you, my heart, my life, I lose you forever! I have no choice but to die." "_Mon Dieu! mon Dieu_!" I cried; "can't you speak? can't you tell me what you expect of me?" "No, I cannot speak," he replied; "a ghastly secret, a frightful mystery overhangs my whole life, and I can never disclose it to you. To love me, to go with me, to comfort me, you would need to be more than a woman, more than angel, perhaps!" "To love you! to go with you!" I repeated. "Shall I not be your wife in a few days? You have but a word to say; however great my sorrow and that of my parents, I will follow you to the end of the world, if it is your will." "Is that true, O my Juliette?" he cried in a transport of joy; "you will go with me? you will leave everything for me? Very well; if you love me as much as that, I am saved! Let us go, let us go at once!"