“‘I can not return, madam, the same reproach!’ I replied, rising and bowing; ‘it required some courage to attempt to poison me upon the very night of my wedding!’
“My words drove her to frenzy.
“‘Beware!’ she exclaimed, taking a step toward me, and putting her hand into her bosom.
“‘Beware!’ I said, with a laugh, ‘beware of what, my dear Madam Laffarge?’
“‘Of this!’
“And with a movement as rapid as lightning she drew from her breast a small silver-mounted pistol, which she aimed straight at my breast.
“I was not in a mood to care much for pistols, Surry. When a man is engaged in a little affair like that, bullets lose their influence on the nerves.
“‘That is a pretty toy!’ I said. ‘Where did you procure it madam, the poisoner?’
“With a face resembling rather a hideous mask than a human countenance, she rushed upon me; placed the muzzle of the pistol on my very breast; and drew the trigger.
“The weapon snapped.