“‘Mercy!’ I cried, casting myself on my knees, ‘I signed on your tablets, certainly; but I did not understand that I was selling my soul.’
“‘Ah! Ah!’ said he, ‘you should be Mademoiselle de L’Enclos?’
“‘Yes,’ murmured I, in half-suffocated tones.
“‘You regret having given your signature?’
“‘Alas!’
“‘Calm yourself; I am not the devil I seem to be; and we will come to an understanding.’
“He approached the couch of the sick woman; but during what had passed, Madeleine had breathed her last.
“‘I should not have saved her,’ said the Man in Black. ‘Let us go into another room,’ he added, turning to me; ‘we will settle our little affair.’
“‘Oh, dearest Countess, I implore you do not forsake me!’ I cried, lifting my trembling hands to Madame de Sandwich.
“‘Excuse me, what I have to say must not be heard by anyone but yourself, Mademoiselle; for in that case, it would be impossible for me to arrange the bargain,’ said the Man in Black.