"Will it unlock a woman's mind?"
"It will open a padlocked book. Last night I found a little blank-leaved book, with wooden covers. It was fastened by a padlock, and these keys were tied to it. You may have one key: I will keep the other."
"The key to a padlocked book with nothing in it."
Her eyes tantalized me.
"I am going to put something in it. Sophie Saint-Michel said I had a gift for putting down my thoughts. If the gift appeared to Sophie when I was a child, it must grow in me by use. Every day I shall put some of my life into the book. And when I die I will bequeath it to you!"
"Take back the key, madame. I have no desire to look into your coffin."
She extended her hand.
"Then our good and kind friend Count de Chaumont shall have it."
"He shall not!"
I held to her hand and kept my key.