Page:Teleny, or The Reverse of the Medal, t. II.djvu/185

 There was no mistake about it.

"First his god-like figure, then his phallus, which I knew so well, then—I almost fainted as my eyes fell upon it—on his fingers glittered the ring I had given him.

"She spoke again.

"He drew his hands from off his face.

"It was he! It was Teleny—my friend—my lover—my life!

"How can I describe what I felt? It seemed to me as if I was breathing fire; as if a rain of glowing ashes was being poured down upon me.

"The door was locked. I caught its handle, and shook it as a mighty whirlwind shakes the sails of some large frigate, and then tears them to shreds. I burst it open.

"I staggered on the sill. The floor seemed to be giving way under my feet; everything was spinning around me; I was in the very midst of a mighty whirlpool. I caught myself by the door-posts not to fall, for there, to my inexpressible horror, I found myself face to face with—my own mother!

"There was a threefold cry of shame, of