The Devil&#039;s Trill

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Miriam looks over at Joseph at the piano. He's staring at the pair and waiting patiently to see if the next piece he plays will be for dancing.
Miriam: Oh, you can't be serious, sir!

Florian is smirking but looks determined.
Florian: I'm deadly serious. We were robbed of the one thing we both truly desired out of that loathsome night.

A silly looking shot of the couple. Miriam looks anxious while Florian smiles a big grin with his hand still held out to her, undeterred.
Miriam: But I... I just had three tea cakes!
Florian: Energy for the dance!

Miriam looks away dejectedly. Florian lowers his hand.
Miriam: P-Please don't ask this of me... I did desire to at the party but I've honestly never danced outside of practice at home. I fear I'll... embarrass myself.

Florian pulls his hand back to himself to gesture.
Florian: You won't even do it out of spite?
Miriam smiles but looks confused.
Miriam: ...Haha, what?

Florian gives Miriam a more devilish grin, raising an eyebrow.
Florian: You know how they'd detest the idea of our dancing together, in private, without the need of their approval. Doesn't the thought of that make you feel a little... triumphant?

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Chapter 2, Page 36: Second Attempt

by SarahN on May 14, 2025 at 12:00 am

Chapter: Chapter 2

Sounds familiar.

Surprise day early update!

I edited that fourth panel with Florian three times. Just an annoying angle with arms that looked wrong. Still not great but I feel better about it now, I think.

Also, this is the first page where I started using anti-aliased (soft) lines instead of aliased (hard & pixely) ones in this comic. Though it’s more obvious in the HD pages.

EDIT: I forgot to mention! Due to a recent court ruling, the 30% Apple fee that happens if you use the Patreon app will no longer be a thing! Yayy~! Only thing I’m not sure about is whether this is in full effect now? Pretty sure it is.

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Florian sets down his cigar in an ash tray on the table.
Florian: Now then...

Florian stands up from his seat. Miriam remains in hers, watching him.
Florian: Before we part until dinner, there's something I must insist upon.

Florian puts out a hand to Miriam. She looks at it, confused.
Florian: For as you might know, that party left me feeling...

A shot from Miriam's point of view, looking up at Florian with his hand out to her. He has a smile on his face.
Florian: Most incomplete.

Miriam stares up at him, still confused.

Then it suddenly hits her and her eyes go wide.

Miriam smiles and furrows her brow.
Miriam: You can't mean...

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Chapter 2, Page 35: Infernal Majesty

by SarahN on April 17, 2025 at 12:00 am

Chapter: Chapter 2

Yeah, don’t reveal your backstory too quickly, Florian.

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Miriam stares in shock at Florian's words.

She looks away, now a bit anxious.
Miriam: I... I see.

Miriam looks back at Florian and grins, trying to downplay the discussion.
Miriam: With how you speak and as well as you play, sir, one might think you had been taught by the devil as well.
Florian takes another puff of his cigar and looks deep in thought.

We then only see the lower half of Florian's (still serious) face, smoke all around.
Florian: My father was close enough.

Miriam looks at him with surprise once again, and also concern.

Florian tilts his head back and looks at Miriam with a smile.
Florian: Hah, I apologize. There's far too much passion and distasteful jests coming from me all of a sudden.

Florian does a sort of shrugging gesture with his hands.
Florian: Alas, I've received no such offer from his infernal majesty... but considering Tartini and Paganini, I think he prefers Italians.
Miriam still looks a bit uneasy, but does a closed mouth laugh at his joke.
Miriam: Hmhmhm...

11 Comments

Chapter 2, Page 34: Soul Stagnation

by SarahN on March 27, 2025 at 12:00 am

Chapter: Chapter 2

Just a normal tea time conversation.

I actually considered cutting this bit of dialogue, but it would mean Miriam wouldn’t question the whole “deal with the Devil” story, which considering the religious upbringing she had, wouldn’t make much sense. She may be angry at her family but she still hasn’t just turned off everything she was strictly raised by.

Also LOOKIE! I got a lovely fanart of Florian and Miriam by Mayshing! She’s made the webcomics E-depth Angel and 2Masters, and is also now working on an anime series called Cante Diary! Thank you so much! 💜

I don’t have much fanart right now but I am debating making a section for it (for the Knell site too). I’m at an impasse because I should try to save some site space but I want to show love to all fanarts I get! Hmm.

In other news I started adding transcripts (below) to new pages, but still have to add them to the past ones, which I’ll be doing little by little.

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Miriam looks away, lost in thought.
Miriam: Who could just... sell their soul? Even in a dream? Even the song, as beautiful as he managed to make it, seems like it was hardly worth giving up Heaven for. Almost like it was a cruel tease.

Florian shrugs, cigar still in hand.
Florian: The sonata became his most famous work still. Maybe he believed it was only his subconscious being creative and he had given up nothing.

Florian then looks away with a frown, but his eyes aren't visible.
Florian: ...Or perhaps the benign had already left him so uninspired. So it was an easy choice to make.
Miriam looks on with a nervous smile, not sure whether or not he's joking.
Miriam: You... can't mean what you say.

Florian looks at Miriam with a rather grave expression, a rare occurrence for him.
Florian: What good is a soul if it stagnates, Mademoiselle Pierce? If a life of so-called "purity" had left it dull and corroded regardless, then why keep it?

Florian looks away and smiles haughtily, clenching a fist near his face.
Florian: Either way... the song is a testament to the forbidden that I cannot resist.

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Chapter 2, Page 33: Song of Damnation

by SarahN on March 6, 2025 at 1:00 am

Chapter: Chapter 2

He knows that, Miriam.

Believe it or not Florian didn’t pick that room to have tea in just so he could point out that art. XP In fact putting that on the wall was a last minute idea on my end. That art was done by Louis-Léopold Boilly, by the way.

There was actually an even nicer painting related to that story I could’ve used there, but it was made a few years AFTER this comic is set and I’m still accuracy-obsessive sometimes.

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Miriam and Florian sitting and speaking together while Florian smokes a cigar.
Florian: The Devil's Trill Sonata, to be precise. That piece has a most fascinating tale behind it's creation.
Miriam: Oh, aye?

Florian motions towards the painting on the wall, behind them.
Florian: Oui, the artwork behind us is even based on the story.

A closeup shot of a man lying in his bed while the Devil, an impish figure with wings and horns, floats on a small cloud near him and plays a violin. It's a classic art by Louis-Léopold Boilly.
Florian: It's said the composer, Giuseppe Tartini, was visited by the Devil in a dream one night. In the dream, he sold his soul, then asked the Devil to play something for him on his violin. The song took Tartini's breath away, but he was only able to hold on to a fragment of it's beauty upon waking.

Florian's face, he has a small smirk.
Florian: What you heard last night was that fragment. If just that can move you to tears, imagine what Tartini must've heard!

A small shot of Miriam's shocked face.
Miriam: That's... really true?

A silly looking panel of Miriam smiling nervously while Florian smugly takes a puff of his cigar.
Miriam: F-Father'd be livid if he knew you played a song with such an origin in his house...
Florian: You think so?

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Chapter 2, Page 32: Saloon Pianist

by SarahN on February 13, 2025 at 1:00 am

Chapter: Chapter 2

“N’est-ce pas?” means along the lines of “Isn’t it so?” or kinda like “Right?” And I think most probably know already but “Merci beaucoup” means “Thank you very much”.

Patrons may or may not notice I made slight dialogue tweaks in the second to third panel’s dialogue from Florian. I both shortened the first part to make the dialogue bubble less obnoxious looking, and made a small correction on the French. XP

Joseph learned a little French from Florian but not enough that he could hold up a real conversation.

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Chapter 2, Page 31: Tea & Wine

by SarahN on January 30, 2025 at 1:00 am

Chapter: Chapter 2

Sorry for the delay, my sister broke her leg so that’s been my focus the last couple of weeks. She’s doing better though! She had a rod put in which apparently means you get up and move pretty fast (but with a walker), which I had no idea about.

Now about the page:
The song is “Linger in Blissful Repose” by Stephen Foster.

You can hear the song in this video! But I personally imagine Joseph’s voice being higher pitched and more subdued in tone.

So, yeah, there are several “odd” things going on in this page.

– Joseph is a butler with musical talent? …Who likes some port during afternoon tea, it seems. (Don’t you judge, Miriam.)

– Men smoking a cigar in front of a woman is considered a no-no in the Victorian era. Like even if you JUST lit one up, if a girl walks in, you’re done with it. But Florian being Mr. Anti-Etiquette smokes one here, AFTER making sure Miriam was fine with it, at least.

– That tea tray is piled high with sweets, and yes it’s the same tray that was featured on the Chapter 2 cover.

Also not weird, just some fashion observations…

Miriam had to wear plaid at least once, she’s Scottish. XP But seriously it WAS in to wear plaid dresses like that in Victorian Scotland. Also, that’s a snood she’s wearing over her hair. Always kinda liked those.

In other news, I recently updated the Characters page with bios for Joseph and the Bishop brothers. (By the way, if you ever go looking for that section later, it’s under “About” in the above menu.)

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CHECK OUT THIS PATREON POST TO LEARN WHAT HAPPENED!
And a follow-up post announcing my second week off.

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Chapter 2, Page 30: Meeting the Maids

by SarahN on January 1, 2025 at 1:00 am

Chapter: Chapter 2

EDIT 1/20/25:
Hey all, had a family emergency last week (which was technically my usual week off but…yeah), but as a result of it, my motivation is lacking and my attention currently remains elsewhere, so I decided to take a second week off.

Presumably it’s to hear some music, Miriam.
So yup, this chapter ain’t over yet.

SURPRISE NEW YEAR UPDATE! 🥳

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