As I approached the window, which is covered with thick curtains,
I suddenly felt the wind blow upon my face and realized that it
was open. I flung the curtain aside and found myself face to
face with a broad-shouldered, elderly man who had just stepped
into the room. The window is a long French one, which really
forms a door leading to the lawn. I held my bedroom candle
lit in my hand, and, by its light, behind the first man I saw
two others, who were in the act of entering. I stepped back,
but the fellow was on me in an instant. He caught me first by
the wrist and then by the throat. I opened my mouth to scream,
but he struck me a savage blow with his fist over the eye,
and felled me to the ground. I must have been unconscious for
a few minutes, for when I came to myself I found that they
had torn down the bell-rope and had secured me tightly to the
oaken chair which stands at the head of the dining-room table.
I was so firmly bound that I could not move, and a handkerchief
round my mouth prevented me from uttering any sound. It was at
this instant that my unfortunate husband entered the room.
He had evidently heard some suspicious sounds, and he came
prepared for such a scene as he found.
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