At length Bluebeard, in order to cure the dislike of the lady’s daughters, invited them and their mother and some young friends to spend a whole week at his house. They came, and nothing was thought of but parties for hunting and fishing, feasting, dancing, and music. The guests were loaded with gifts of the most costly description and were so delightfully entertained that before many days had passed, Fatima, the youngest sister, began to imagine that the beard she had thought to be so ugly was not so very blue after all. By the end of the week the kindness and politeness of her host had made such an impression that she concluded it would be a pity to refuse to become his wife on account of the trifling circumstance of his having a blue beard.
So they were married shortly afterward, and at first everything went well. A month passed away, and one morning Bluebeard told Fatima that he must go on a journey which would take him six weeks at least. He kissed her affectionately, gave her the keys of the whole mansion, and bade her amuse herself in any way she pleased while he was gone.
“But,” said he, “I would have you notice among the keys the small one of polished steel. It unlocks the little room at the end of the long corridor. Go where you will, and do what you choose, but remember I have forbidden you to enter that one room.”
Fatima promised faithfully to obey his orders, and she watched him get into his carriage, and stood at the door of the mansion waving her hand to him as he drove away. Lest she should be lonesome during her husband’s absence, she invited numerous guests to keep her company. Most of them had not dared to venture into the house while Bluebeard was there, and they came without any urging or delay, eager to see its splendors. They ran about upstairs and downstairs, peeping into the closets and wardrobes, admiring the rooms, and exclaiming over the beauties of the tapestries, sofas, cabinets, and tables, and of the mirrors in which they could see themselves from head to foot. With one consent they praised what they saw, and envied the fortune of their friend, the mistress of all this magnificence. She went about unlocking the doors for their convenience until the only door that remained untouched was that of the obscure room at the end of the long corridor. She wondered why she had been forbidden to enter that room. What was there in it? Even if she did go in, her husband need never know she had done so. The more she thought about it the more curious she became. At last she left her guests and hurried along the dark, narrow corridor that led to the forbidden room. At the door she hesitated, recalling her husband’s command, and fearful of his anger; but the temptation was too strong, and she tremblingly opened the door.
At first she could see nothing because the window-shutters were closed; but after a few moments she began to discern that on the floor lay the bodies of all the wives Bluebeard had married. She uttered a cry of horror, her strength left her, and she thought she would die from fear. The key of the room fell from her hand, but she picked it up, hastily retreated to the corridor, and locked the door. However, she could not forget what she had seen, and when she returned to her guests her mind was too disturbed for her to attend to their comfort or to attempt to entertain them. One by one they bade their hostess good-by and went home, until no one was left with her except her sister Anne.
Then Fatima noticed a spot of blood on the key of the fatal room. She tried to wipe it off, but the spot remained. Then she washed the key with soap and scoured it with sand, but her efforts were in vain, for it was a magic key, and only Bluebeard himself had the power to remove the stain. She decided not to put it with the other keys, but to hide it, hoping her husband would not miss it.
Bluebeard returned unexpectedly that very evening. He said a horseman had met him on the road and told him that the business which had taken him from home had been satisfactorily settled, so there was no need of his making the long journey.
Fatima tried to welcome her husband with every appearance of pleasure, but all the time she was dreading the moment when he should ask for the keys. This he did not do until the following morning, and then she gave them to him with such a blanched face and shaking hand that he easily guessed what had happened. “How is it that you have not brought me the key of the little room?” he asked sternly.
“I must have left it on my table upstairs,” she faltered.
“Bring it to me at once,” said Bluebeard, and she was forced to go and make a pretense of searching for it.