'You do not know!' cried Blue Beard in a terrible voice. 'But I know well enough. You have chosen to enter that closet. Mighty well, madam; since that poor room of mine so appeals to your fancy, your whim shall not be denied. You shall go in, and take your place among the ladies you saw there!'
Fatima flung herself at her husband's feet, and wept and begged his pardon with every sign of truly repenting her disobedience. She would have melted a rock, so beautiful and sorrowful she was; but Blue Beard had a heart harder than any rock.
The unhappy FATIMA cried up to her:—
'Anne, Sister Anne, do you see any one coming?'
'You must die, madam,' said he, 'and that presently.'
'Since I must die,' she answered, looking up at him with eyes all bathed in tears, 'grant me a little time to say my prayers.'
'I grant you,' replied Blue Beard, 'ten minutes, and not a second more.'