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The Comtesse Hermine started up triumphantly; and this movement of hers was even more dramatic than the inexplicable vibration of that electric bell. She gave a cry of fierce delight, followed by an outburst of laughter. The whole expression of her face changed. It denoted no more anxiety, no more of that tension indicating a groping and bewildered mind, nothing but insolence, assurance, scorn and intense pride.
"Fools! " she snarled. "Fools! So you really believed -- oh, what simpletons you Frenchmen are! -- that you had me caught like a rat in a trap? Me! Me! ."