A smile of incredulity pasd over the pale lips of Milady.
"Listen! It was you who bsp;off the two diamond studs from the shoulder of the Duke of Bugham; it was you had the Madame Bonacieux carried off; it was you who, in love with de Wardes and thinking to pass the night with him, opened the door to Monsieur d''Artagnan; it was you who, believing that de Wardes had deceived you, wished to have him killed by his rival; it was you who, when this rival had discovered your infamous cret, wished to have him killed in his turn by two assassins, whom you nt in pursuit of him; it was you who, finding the balls had misd their mark, nt poisoned wine with a fed letter, to make your victim believe that the wine came from his friends. In short, it was you who have but now in this chamber, ated in this chair I now fill, made an e with Cardinal Richelieu to bsp;the Duke of Bugham to be assassinated, in exge for the promi he has made you to allow you to assassinate d''Artagnan."
Milady was livid.
"You must be Satan!" cried she.
"Perhaps," said Athos; "But at all events listen well to this. Assassinate the Duke of Bugham, or bsp;him to be assassinated--I care very little about that! I don''t know him. Besides, he is an Englishman. But do not toubsp;with the tip of your finger a single hair of d''Artagnan, who is a faithful friend whom I love and defend, or I swear to you by the head of my father the crime whibsp;you shall have endeavored to it, or shall have itted, shall be the last."
"Monsieur d''Artagnan has cruelly insulted me," said Milady, in a hollow tone; "Monsieur d''Artagnan shall die!"
"Indeed! Is it possible to insult you, madame?" said Athos, laughing; "he has insulted you, and he shall die!"
"He shall die!" replied Milady; "she first, and he afterward."
Athos was ized with a kind of vertigo. The sight of this creature, who had nothing of the woman about her, recalled awful remembrances. He thought how one day, in a less dangerous situation than the one in whibsp;he was now placed, he had already endeavored to sacrifibsp;her to his honor. His desire for blood returned, burning his brain and pervading his frame like a raging fever; he aro in his turn, reached his hand to his belt, drew forth a pistol, and cocked it.