Athos now stepped forward. As he gazed at his former wife he shuddered as a man shudders at the sight of a snake. 'Here's my charge against this woman,' he said. 'I married her when she was a girl, against my family's wishes; I gave her my name and a share in all my worldly goods. One day I discovered she was branded, marked with a fleur-de-lis on her left shoulder.' At this Milady sprang to her feet and cried: 'I defy anyone to find the court which imposed that wicked sentence on me. And I defy anyone to find the man who executed it.' |