Angélique held out her hand; La Corriveau seized it. She looked intently upon the slender fingers and oval palm. “There is evil enough in these long, sharp spatulae of yours,” said she, “to ruin the world. You are worthy to be the inheritrix of all I know. These fingers would pick fruit off the forbidden tree for men to eat and die! The tempter only is needed, and he is never far off! Angélique des Meloises, I may one day teach you the grand secret; meantime I will show you that I possess it.”
CHAPTER XXXV. “FLASKETS OF DRUGS, FULL TO THEIR WICKED LIPS.”
La Corriveau took the ebony casket from her bosom and laid it solemnly on the table. “Do not cross yourself,” she exclaimed angrily as she saw Angélique mechanically make the sacred sign. “There can come no blessings here. There is death enough in that casket to kill every man and woman in New France.”
Angélique fastened her gaze upon the casket as if she would have drawn out the secret of its contents by the very magnetism of her eyes. She laid her hand upon it caressingly, yet tremblingly—eager, yet fearful, to see its contents.
“Open it!” cried La Corriveau, “press the spring, and you will see such a casket of jewels as queens might envy. It was the wedding-gift of Beatrice Spara, and once belonged to the house of Borgia—Lucrezia Borgia had it from her terrible father; and he, from the prince of demons!”
Angélique pressed the little spring,—the lid flew open, and there flashed from it a light which for the moment dazzled her eyes with its brilliancy. She thrust the casket from her in alarm, and retreated a few steps, imagining she smelt the odor of some deadly perfume.
“I dare not approach it,” said she. “Its glittering terrifies me; its odor sickens me.”
“Tush! it is your weak imagination!” replied La Corriveau; “your sickly conscience frightens you! You will need to cast off both to rid Beaumanoir of the presence of your rival! The aqua tofana in the hands of a coward is a gift as fatal to its possessor as to its victim.”
Angélique with a strong effort tried to master her fear, but could not. She would not again handle the casket.