Margaret heard the
flight of monstrous birds, and they seemed to whisper strange things
on their passage. Oliver took her hand. He led her steadily to a
cross-road, and she did not know if they walked amid rocks or tombs.
She heard the sound of a trumpet, and from all parts, strangely appearing
where before was nothing, a turbulent assembly surged about her. That
vast empty space was suddenly filled by shadowy forms, and they swept
along like the waves of the sea, crowding upon one another's heels. And
it seemed that all the mighty dead appeared before her; and she saw grim
tyrants, and painted courtesans, and Roman emperors in their purple, and
sultans of the East. All those fierce evil women of olden time passed by
her side, and now it was Mona Lisa and now the subtle daughter of
Herodias. And Jezebel looked out upon her from beneath her painted brows,
and Cleopatra turned away a wan, lewd face; and she saw the insatiable
mouth and the wanton eyes of Messalina, and Fustine was haggard with the
eternal fires of lust. She saw cardinals in their scarlet, and warriors
in their steel, gay gentlemen in periwigs, and ladies in powder and
patch.
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