“Alas!” we heard. “Am I likely to forget it!”

“Remember it and smile to him⁠ ⁠… entreat him⁠ ⁠… tell him that your bonds hurt you.”

But Christine Daaé said:

“Hush!⁠ ⁠… I hear something in the wall on the lake!⁠ ⁠… It is he!⁠ ⁠… Go away! Go away! Go away!”

“We could not go away, even if we wanted to,” I said, as impressively as I could. “We can not leave this! And we are in the torture-chamber!”

“Hush!” whispered Christine again.

Heavy steps sounded slowly behind the wall, then stopped and made the floor creak once more. Next came a tremendous sigh, followed by a cry of horror from Christine, and we heard Erik’s voice: