“You may take the food away at once, Suzanne, for I shall not taste one morsel. I have no doubt it is drugged, and I need all my senses about me to plan my escape.”
“Escape, miladi?” with pretended surprise.
“Yes. You know perfectly well that I am a prisoner here against my will, Suzanne, and that I shall escape at the first opportunity.”
“Oh, madame, that will ever be impossible! You are locked into this house, watched and guarded so that you can never get free!” returned Suzanne, with a knowing look that struck despair to the heart of her hapless young mistress.
She cried out, desperately:
“Oh, Suzanne, you are a sister woman, and ought to have a kind heart in your body! Have pity upon me! I will tell you all my sad story, and surely, surely you will help me to escape!”
The tears in the beautiful blue eyes might have moved a heart of stone, but Suzanne was pitiless, although she listened with all the curiosity that is imputed to the female sex.
Poor Violet poured all her tortured heart into the appeal to the French maid.
She told her, through raining tears, of her hapless love affair and the opposition it had encountered, of her cousin’s treachery that had brought her into this terrible pass, and she besought her aid in escaping from Harold Castello.
When she had finished, the woman did not betray any surprise. She simply bowed and began to argue the case, although in the most respectful manner.