She was content.
"Mademoiselle," she said, with a smile, "you wish me to believe.

You have now your opportunity." Opportunity! And she was helpless.

She knew very well that she could never free herself from these cords without Helene's help.

She would fail, miserably and shamefully fail.
"It was madame who wished you to believe," she stammered.
And Adele Rossignol laughed suddenly--a short, loud, harsh laugh, which jarred upon the quiet of the room.

It turned Celia's vague alarm into a definite terror.