She tried to close the door, but Raoul prevented her; for he had seen,
on the top step of the staircase that led to the floor above, A RED
FOOT, followed by another ... and slowly, majestically, the whole
scarlet dress of Red Death met his eyes. And he once more saw the
death's head of Perros-Guirec.
"It's he!" he exclaimed. "This time, he shall not escape me! ..."
But Christian{sic} had slammed the door at the moment when Raoul was on
the point of rushing out. He tried to push her aside.
"Whom do you mean by 'he'?" she asked, in a changed voice. "Who shall
not escape you?"
Raoul tried to overcome the girl's resistance by force, but she
repelled him with a strength which he would not have suspected in her.
He understood, or thought he understood, and at once lost his temper.
"Who?" he repeated angrily. "Why, he, the man who hides behind that
hideous mask of death! ... The evil genius of the churchyard at Perros!
... Red Death! ... In a word, madam, your friend ... your Angel of
Music! ... But I shall snatch off his mask, as I shall snatch off my
own; and, this time, we shall look each other in the face, he and I,
with no veil and no lies between us; and I shall know whom you love and
who loves you!"
He burst into a mad laugh, while Christine gave a disconsolate moan
behind her velvet mask. With a tragic gesture, she flung out her two
arms, which fixed a barrier of white flesh against the door.
"In the name of our love, Raoul, you shall not pass! ..."
He stopped. What had she said? ... In the name of their love? ...
Never before had she confessed that she loved him. And yet she had had
opportunities enough ... Pooh, her only object was to gain a few
seconds! ... She wished to give the Red Death time to escape ... And,
in accents of childish hatred, he said: "You lie, madam, for you do not love me and you have never loved me!
What a poor fellow I must be to let you mock and flout me as you have
done! Why did you give me every reason for hope, at Perros ... for
honest hope, madam, for I am an honest man and I believed you to be an
honest woman, when your only intention was to deceive me! Alas, you
have deceived us all! You have taken a shameful advantage of the
candid affection of your benefactress herself, who continues to believe
in your sincerity while you go about the Opera ball with Red Death! ...
I despise you! ..."
And he burst into tears. She allowed him to insult her. She thought
of but one thing, to keep him from leaving the box.