After the
first rapid glance he made as if he did not perceive de Sigognac at all,
no more than if he had been a piece of furniture standing there; for him
Captain Fracasse was not a MAN, but a THING, and he continued to gaze
fixedly at poor Isabelle--his eyes fairly blazing with passion--exactly
as though no one was near. She, confused at last, and alarmed, blushed
painfully, in spite of all her efforts to appear calm and unmoved, and
hastened to finish what little remained to be done, so that she
might make her escape, for she could see de Sigognac's hand close
spasmodically on the handle of his sword, and, realizing how he must
be feeling, feared an outbreak on his part. With trembling fingers she
adjusted a little black "mouche" near the corner of her pretty mouth,
and pushed back her chair preparatory to rising from it--having a
legitimate cause for haste, as the tyrant had already more than once
roared out from the stage door, "Mesdemoiselles, are you ready?"
"Permit me, mademoiselle," said the duke starting forward, "you have
forgotten to put on an 'assassine,'" and touching the tip of his
forefinger to his lips he plunged it into the box of patches standing
open on the dressing-table, and brought one out on it. "Permit me to put
it on for you--here, just above your snowy bosom; it will enhance its
exquisite whiteness.
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