“He started, and said, without concerning himself further about me: ‘Her bed ought to be on the left!’
“His calmness terrified me. I threw myself on him.
“At that moment, Emilie, whom he had doubtless already seized, cried, ‘Mercy! Mercy!’
“I tried to take him by the middle of his body. I felt the point of a dagger graze my hand.
“Emilie uttered a long sigh. She was killed or wounded, her blood spouted up on my forehead.
“Then my brain became wild; I felt myself endowed with a supernatural strength. With my left hand I seized the right arm of the murderer; with my right hand I snatched his dagger from him, and plunged it twice in his breast.
“I heard him fall without uttering a cry. From that moment I remember nothing.
“I found myself at the rising of the sun lying by the side of a hedge. I was covered with blood.
“For some moments I could remember nothing, then all returned to my memory. I returned home, avoiding the sight of every one.
“I discovered, as I entered, that my Maltese cross was lost. Perhaps it had been taken away from me in the struggle.