The Return

That same evening, her husband came back. He said that the business had finished quickly and that everything had gone well. His wife tried to act happy and calm, but inside she was terrified.

The next morning, he asked for the keys. She gave them to him, but her hands were shaking. He noticed immediately. He looked through the keys carefully.

"Where is the key to the closet?" he asked.

"I think I left it upstairs," she said.

"Go and get it," he said.

She went upstairs and came back with the key. Her husband looked at it very carefully.

"Why is there blood on this key?" he asked.

"I don't know," she whispered. She was as pale as a ghost.

"You don't know?" he said. "I know very well. You opened the closet. You saw what is in there. And now, madam, you will join the women you saw."

She fell to her knees and begged him to forgive her. She was crying and truly sorry. But Blue Beard's heart was made of stone.

"You must die," he said. "Right now."

"Please," she said, with tears in her eyes. "Give me a little time to say my prayers."

"I will give you a quarter of an hour," he said. "Not one minute more."