When he had done so, she said,
"Come with me," and preceded him down the dim corridor. His heart
beat thickly; the incense of this sacred inner life, with its faint
suggestion of dead rose-leaves, filled him with a voluptuous
languor; his breath was lost, as if a soft kiss had taken it away;
his senses swam in the light mist that seemed to suffuse
everything. His step trembled as she suddenly turned aside, and,
opening a door, ushered him into a small vaulted chamber.
In the first glance it seemed to be an oratory or chapel. A large
gold and ebony crucifix hung on the wall. There was a prie-dieu of
heavy dark mahogany in the centre of the tiled floor; there was a
low ottoman or couch, covered with a mantle of dark violet velvet,
like a pall; there were two quaintly carved stiff chairs; a
religious, almost ascetic, air pervaded the apartment; but no
dreamy eastern seraglio could have affected him with an
intoxication so profoundly and mysteriously sensuous.
Maruja pointed to a chair, and then, with a peculiarly feminine
movement, placed herself sideways upon the ottoman, half reclining
on her elbow on a high cushion, her deep billowy flounces partly
veiling the funereal velvet below. Her oval face was pale and
melancholy, her eyes moist as if with recent tears; an expression
as of troubled passion lurked in their depths and in the corners of
her mouth. Scarcely knowing why, Carroll fancied that thus she
might appear if she were in love; and the daring thought made him
tremble.
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