Whereupon after some groping she rang furiously and asked for a lamp.

It was Julien's fault too! If there had been a lamp in the drawing room the whole affair would not have happened.

It was the stupid nightfall which had got the better of her heart.
"I beseech you to be reasonable, my pet," she said when Zoe had brought in the lights.
The count, with his hands on his knees, was sitting gazing at the floor.
He was stupefied by what he had just seen.

He did not cry out in anger.
He only trembled, as though overtaken by some horror which was freezing him.

This dumb misery touched the young woman, and she tried to comfort him.
"Well, yes, I've done wrong.