drawing-rooms,and saw the grandeur of the furniture.
During the day, Fatima was so much engaged, that she never once thoughtof the blue closet, which Blue Beard had ordered her not to open; butwhen all the visitors were gone, she felt a great curiosity to know itscontents. She took out the key, which was made of the finest gold, andwent to consult with her sister on the subject. Anne used every argumentshe could think of to dissuade Fatima from her purpose, and reminded herof the threats of Blue Beard; but all in vain, for Fatima was now benton gratifying her curiosity.
She therefore, in spite of all her sister could do, seized one of thecandles, and hurried down stairs to the fatal closet. On reaching thedoor she stopped, and began to reason with herself on the proprietyof her conduct; but her curiosity at length overcame every otherconsideration, and, with a trembling hand, she applied the key to thelock, and opened the door. She had only advanced a few steps, when themost frightful scene met her view, and, struck with horror and dismay,she dropped the key of the closet.
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|She was in the midst of blood, and the heads, bodies, and mutilatedlimbs of murdered ladies lay scattered on the floor. These ladies hadall been married to Blue Beard, and had suffered for their imprudentcuriosity, the key, which was the gift of a fairy, always betrayingtheir fatal disobedience.
The terror of Fatima was not diminished on observing these dreadfulwords on the wall--"_The Reward of Disobedience and ImprudentCuriosity!_" She trembled violently; but, on recovering a little, shesnatched up the key, and having again locked the door, left this abodeof horror.
As soon as she reached her sister's chamber, she related the whole ofher horrid adventure. They then examined the key, but it was all coveredwith blood, and they both turned pale with fear. They spent a good partof the night in trying to clean off the blood from the key, but it waswithout effect, for though they washed and scoured it with brickdust and sand, no sooner was the blood removed from one side, thanit appeared on the other. Fatigued with their exertions, they at lastretired to bed, where they passed a sleepless and anxious night.
|Fatima rose at a late hour next day, and consulted with her sister howshe ought to proceed. She thought first of escaping from the castle, butas her brothers were expected in an hour or two, she resolved to waittheir arrival.
A loud knock at the gate made her almost leap for joy, and she cried,"they are come! they are come!" but what was her consternation when BlueBeard hastily opened the door, and entered. It was impossible for Fatimato conceal her agitation, although she pretended to be very happy at hissudden and unexpected return.
Blue Beard, who guessed what she had been about, requested the keys,in order, as he said, that he might change his dress. She went to herchamber, and soon returned with the keys, all except the one belongingto the blue closet He took the keys from her with seeming indifference,and after glancing at them minutely, said, rather sternly, "How is this,Fatima! I do not see the key of the blue closet here! Go and bring it tome instantly."
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The poor girl, feeling the crisis of her fate approaching, said, "Iwill go and search for it," and left the apartment in tears. She wentstraight to her sister's chamber, where they again tried, but in vain,to remove the blood from the key. The voice of Blue Beard again callingfor her, she was forced to return, and reluctantly to give him the fatalkey.
On examining the key, Blue Beard burst into a terrible rage. "PrayMadam," said he, "how came this blood to be here?"
"I am sure I do not know," replied she, trembling, and turning pale.
"What! do you not know!" cried Blue Beard, in a voice like thunder,which made poor Fatima start with fear; "but I know well! You have beenin the forbidden blue closet! And since you are so fond of prying intosecrets, you shall take up your abode with the ladies you saw there."
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Almost expiring with fear and terror, the trembling Fatima sunk upon herknees, and implored him in the most piteous manner to forgive her.But the cruel Blue Beard, deaf to her intreaties, drew his dreadfulscymetar, and bid her prepare for immediate death.
Blue Beard had raised his arm to give the fatal blow, when a dreadfulshriek from her sister, who at that moment entered the apartment,arrested his attention. She entreated him to spare the life of Fatima,but he was deaf to her intercession, and would only grant her onequarter of an hour, that she might make her peace with Heaven, before heput her to death.
Blue Beard then dragged her up to a large hall in the top of the towerof the castle, to prevent her groans being heard, to which they werefollowed by her sister. He then told her to make the best use ofthe time, as she might expect his return the moment it elapsed, andimmediately left the place.
|When alone with her sister, Fatima felt her dreadful situation, andagain burst into tears. Only fifteen minutes between her and the mostcruel death, without the least chance of escape; for Blue Beard hadsecured the door when he retired, and the staircase they saw only led tothe battlements. Fatima's thoughts were now turned to her brothers, whomshe expected that day; and she requested her sister to ascend to the topof the tower, to see if there was any appearance of them.
Fatima's sister immediately ascended to the top of the battlements,while the poor trembling girl below, every minute, cried out, "SisterAnne, my dear sister Anne, do you see any one coming yet?"
Her sister always replied, "There is not a human being in view, and Isee nothing but the sun and the grass."
She was upon her knees bewailing her fate, when Blue Beard, in atremendous voice, cried out, "Are you ready?" the time is expired and sheheard the sound of his footsteps approaching. She again supplicatedhim to allow her five minutes longer to finish her prayers, which he,knowing she was completely within his power, granted her, and again lefther.
Fatima again renewed her inquiries to her sister "Do you see any onecoming yet?"
Her sister replied, "There is not a human being within sight."
When the five minutes were elapsed,
"I see," said her sister, "a cloud of dust rising a little to the left."
In breathless agitation, she cried, "Do you think it is my brothers?"
The voice of Blue Beard was heard bawling out, "Are you ready yet?"
She again beseeched him to allow her only two minutes more, and thenaddressed her sister, "Dear Anne, do you see any one coming yet?"
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"Alas! no, my dearest Fatima," returned her sister, "it is only a flockof sheep."
Again the voice of Blue Beard was heard, and she begged for one minutelonger. She then called out for the last time, "Sister Anne, do you seeno one coming yet?"
|Her sister quickly answered, "I see two men on horseback, but they arestill a great way off."
"Thank heaven," exclaimed Fatima, "I shall yet be saved, for it must bemy two brothers! My dearest sister, make every signal in your power tohasten them forward, or they will be too late." Blue Beard's patiencebeing now exhausted, he burst open the door in a rage, and made a blowat the wretched Fatima, with the intention of striking off her head; butshe sprang close to him and evaded it. Furious at being foiled in hisaim, he threw her from him, and then seizing her by the hair of thehead, was in the act of striking her a blow with his scymetar, when thenoise of persons approaching, with hasty steps, arrested the progressof his sanguinary arm. Blue Beard had not time to conjecture who theintruders might be, when the door opened, and two officers, with theirswords drawn, rushed into the apartment.
Struck with terror, the guilty wretch released his wife from his grasp,and without attempting to resist, he tried to effect his escape from theresentment of her brothers; but they pursued and seized him before hehad got above twenty paces from the place.
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After reproaching Blue Beard with his cruelty, they dragged him backto the spot where he intended to have murdered their sister; and there,stabbing him to the heart with their swords, he expired, uttering themost horrid oaths and execrations.
|Fatima, who had falle
n to the ground at the time Blue Beard quittedhis hold of her, still lay in the same situation insensible; for theappearance of her brothers, at the moment she expected certain death,had thrown her into a faint, which continued during the whole of thetime they were engaged in despatching her husband.
The two young officers now turned their attention to their sister, whomthey raised from the ground; but she could hardly be persuaded of hersafety, till they pointed to where Blue Beard lay extended and lifeless.
Fatima, on recovering a little, tenderly embraced her deliverers; andthe appearance of their sister Anne, who had come down from the top ofthe battlements, added to their happiness.
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As all those horrid murders which had been committed by Blue Beard, wereunknown to his domestics, on whose credulity he imposed by falsehoods,which they had no means of detecting, Fatima and her