at was his name?"
"I am not going to tell you. It was for Him I went into the convent;
I was determined to be His bride in heaven. I used to read His life,
and think of Him all day long. I had a friend who was also in love,
but the reverend mother heard of our conversations, and we were
forbidden to speak any more of our saints."
"Tell me his name? Was he anything like me?"
"Well, perhaps there is a something in the eyes."
The conversation dropped, and he laid his hand gently upon her foot.
Drawing it back she spilt the wine.
"I must go."
"No, dearest, you must not."
She looked round, taking the room in one swift circular glance, her
eyes resting one moment on the crucifix.
"This is cruel of you," he said. "I dreamed of you madly, and why do
you destroy my dream? What shall I do?--where shall I go?--how shall
I live if I don't get you?"
"Men do not mind whom they love; even in the convent we knew that."
"You seem to have known a good deal in that convent; I am not
astonished that you left it."
"What do you mean?" She settled her shawl on her shoulders.
"Merely this; you are in a young man's room alone, and I love you."
"Love! You profane the word; loose me, I am going."
"No, you are not going, you must remain." There was an occasional
nature in him, that of the vicious dog, and now it snarled. "If you
did not love me, you should not have come here," he said interposing,
getting between her and the door.
Then she entreated him to let her go. He laughed at her; then
suddenly her face flamed with a passion he was unprepared for, and
her eyes danced with strange lights. Few words were spoken, only a
few ejaculatory phrases such as "How dare you?" "Let me go!" she
said, as she strove to wrench her arms from his grasp. She caught up
one of the glasses; but before she could throw it Mike seized her
hand; he could not take it from her, and unconscious of danger (for
if the glass broke both would be cut to the bone), she clenched it
with a force that seemed impossible in one so frail. Her rage was
like wildfire. Mike grew afraid, and preferring that the glass should
be thrown than it should break in his hand, he loosed his fingers. It
smashed against the opposite wall. He hoped that Frank had not heard;
that he had left the chambers. He seized the second glass. When she
raised her arm, Mike saw and heard the shattered window falling into
the court below. He anticipated the porter's steps on the
|