He was about to grasp the handle of the door, when he remembered that he had heard the key turn in the lock immediately after she had entered the room.
He gnashed his teeth with rage.
And now the drapery had fallen from her shoulders, and the whole of her voluptuous form, naked to the waist, was exposed to his view.
He could have broken down the door, had he not feared to alarm the other inmates of the house.
He literally trembled under the influence of his fierce desires.
How he envied—Oh! how he envied the innocent babe which the fond mother pressed to that bosom—swelling, warm, and glowing!
And now she prepared to step into the bath: but, while he was waiting with fervent avidity for the moment when the whole of the drapery should fall from her form, a step suddenly resounded upon the stairs.
He started like a guilty wretch away from the door: and, perceiving that the footsteps descended the upper flight, he precipitated himself down the stairs.
Rushing across the hall, he sought the garden, where he wandered up and down, a thousand wild feelings agitating his breast.
He determined that Ellen should be his; but he was not collected enough to deliberate upon the means of accomplishing his resolution,—so busy was his imagination in conjuring up the most voluptuous idealities, which were all prompted by the real scene the contemplation whereof had been interrupted.