The Count of Monte Cristo

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"Yes," cried Morrel, "make haste. So long as you are not mine,
Valentine, I shall always think I may lose you."

"Oh," replied Valentine with a convulsive movement, "oh, indeed,
Maximilian, you are too timid for an officer, for a soldier who,
they say, never knows fear. Ah, ha, ha!" she burst into a forced and
melancholy laugh, her arms stiffened and twisted, her head fell back
on her chair, and she remained motionless. The cry of terror which
was stopped on Noirtier's lips, seemed to start from his eyes. Morrel
understood it; he knew he must call assistance. The young man rang the
bell violently; the housemaid who had been in Mademoiselle Valentine's
room, and the servant who had replaced Barrois, ran in at the same
moment. Valentine was so pale, so cold, so inanimate that without
listening to what was said to them they were seized with the fear which
pervaded that house, and they flew into the passage crying for help.
Madame Danglars and Eugenie were going out at that moment; they heard
the cause of the disturbance. "I told you so!" exclaimed Madame de