cold and motionless. She only felt the pulsation in her own fingers, and
withdrew her hand with a shudder. One arm was hanging out of the bed;
from shoulder to elbow it was moulded after the arms of Germain
Pillon's "Graces," [*] but the fore-arm seemed to be slightly distorted
by convulsion, and the hand, so delicately formed, was resting with
stiff outstretched fingers on the framework of the bed. The nails, too,
were turning blue.
* Germain Pillon was a famous French sculptor (1535-1598).
His best known work is "The Three Graces," now in the
Louvre.
Madame de Villefort had no longer any doubt; all was over--she had
consummated the last terrible work she had to accomplish. There was no
more to do in the room, so the poisoner retired stealthily, as though
fearing to hear the sound of her own footsteps; but as she withdrew she
still held aside the curtain, absorbed in the irresistible attraction
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