You
have deceived those who love you best and trust you most. What will the
princess say when she hears of last night's merry escapade? What will
she say when she learns who was hostess to a common guardsman at the
midnight hour? It is no wonder that you look terrified. It is for you to
say whether she is to know or not. You can bind me to silence. You have
lost Baldos. Take me and all that I can give you in his stead, and the
world never shall know the truth. You love him, I know, and there is but
one way to save him. Say the word and he goes free to the hills; decline
and his life is not worth a breath of air."
"And pretending to believe this of me, you still ask me to be your
wife. What kind of a man are you?" she demanded, scarcely able to speak.
"My wife?" he said harshly. "Oh, no. You are not the wife of Baldos," he
added significantly.
"Good God!" gasped Beverly, crushed by the brutality of it all. "I would
sooner die. Would to heaven my father were here, he would shoot you as
he would a dog! Oh, how I loathe you! Don't you try to stop me! I shall
go to the princess myself. She shall know what manner of beast you are."
She was racing up the steps, flaming with anger and shame.
"Remember, I can prove what I have said. Beware what you do. I love you
so much that I now ask you to become my wife. Think well over it. Your
honor and his life! It rests with you," he cried eagerly, following her
to the door.
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