At last she could bear it no longer, but slipping away from her
visitors, she ran along the passages and stairs, nearly falling down
them, so great was her haste, until she came to that door at the end
of the corridor.
Not pausing an instant, she thrust the key into the lock, and the door
sprang open.
At first she could distinguish nothing, for the room was dark and
gloomy, but then, all of a sudden, she knew what had become of
Bluebeard's other wives, for there they lay, in a long, straight row,
all dead. She stood horrified for a moment or two, gazing at the
pale faces, and long hair spread out around them, then picking up
the little key which she had taken from the lock but dropped in her
fright, she hastily quitted the room, shut and locked the door, and
ran to her own chamber to calm herself before returning to her guests.
But she was unable to rest for an instant, so dreadful were her
feelings; then with terror she noticed that on the key there was a
stain. She wiped it with her handkerchief, but alas! it was blood that
would not be wiped away. She washed the key and rubbed it, and
scraped it and polished it, but all to no purpose, if she succeeded
in cleansing one side, the mark came out on the other.
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