The six sisters of the valleys : an historical romance - University Library

CHAPTER XXVI.
THE RACK.
The Marquis of Pianesse gazed on Ardoine
in silent admiration; even in his eye the
moral purity which shone in her counte-
nance gave quality to her loveliness, which
was heightened by the flush of her excited
feelings.
When Ardoine opened her eyes, and
they rested on the stone walls with their
implements of death, she felt a shudder of
horror at finding herself confronted by the
realities of torture, of which she had heard
in childhood ; but when she beheld Echarcl,
a gleam of hope lit up her countenance,
though she still lay bound upon the rack.