Before leaving for the Morrie residence at rue Jadis-Joppelin, the Count requested permission to visit Shélobe through her maid of honour, an orquette. The young spider-woman was in an apartment entirely separate from that of the Count. This apartment was furnished in the style Mordor, so that, instead of a bed, Shélobe reclined on a divan of spider-web woven in the most intricate arabesque design; the curtains were of similar make. Exotic viands hung from strings attached to the wall. Shélobe possessed many exits from her alcove, which she employed to dispatch her attendants in search of food. The latter must always be well-spiced; for never would she drink cold coffee nor eat cold meat.
The young woman was lying in the most remote part of her apartment, that is, in a round bewebbed boudoir, in which the light of day never penetrated. She lay on one side, her head encadred in three of her four slightly rounded arms, while her fourth held in her lips the bony tube of a nazghouleh, which would not let the vapour enter her mouth but it were perfumed by eau de Morgoule.
