Her Royal Lover: A Novel — page 108: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

100 HER ROYAL LOVER, ing by a half-open casement, must have at the same time extinguished her light, and drawn from her hand the precious paper. She stoops, she hopes to find it; vain hope! It seemed that death, grimacing hideously, was beside her. In the over-excitement of her senses, she imagined she heard a dull confused sound, reverberating rapidly like the percipitate beating of a terrified heart, and this sound augmented in- tensely. . Then she knew the paroxysm of terror. Suddenly midnight struck slowly, dolefully. At the last stroke of the bell, she heard footsteps run- ning up the stairs; some one, opening violently the door, introduced a bright light in the room. It was one of the old servants of the princess. In making his round in the garden he had seen a hight in the studio, ordinarily always dark at this hour of the night. This light being extinguished, it was only after having finished his inspection that he had decided to ascend to ascertain if all was in good order there. As soon as the princess perceives him, her nerves abruptly relax at the sight of this unexpected deliverer, she throws herself upon him and clings to him in such a manner that the man believes that she has become insane. “What is the matter with you, Madame la Prin- cess?” The young woman turns in every direction her eyes that terror renders immoderately large. “Hush! hush!” said she. “Listen—there is some one here. A man has come, he has extinguished my light, he has snatched something from me that I held in my hand, then he has disappeared.” The fingers of the young woman stiffen desper- ately on the arm of the old man, and while speaking | Eecom (€ JOO ‘S.Cco