"I swear to you," she said slowly, giving each word its full value,
"that if you won't do this for me, I will kill Mary Grant, and go away
with her jewels, to lead my own life without you. If you choose you can
denounce me. But in no other way, unless you help, and so save her life,
can you prevent me from keeping my word. I love you now, and if you're
brave enough to get fortune and a new start for us at this small risk,
I'll love you all the rest of my life as no woman ever loved a man. If
not----"
"I'll do it!" he answered, the blood streaming up to his face.
She laced her fingers round his neck and drew him against her bosom. For
a moment they stood thus, very still, clasped in each other's arms, her
lips pressed to his.
XXXVI
At last Mary had time to think, and to write to Vanno.
In her dressing-bag, which the caretaker had carried up to her room,
were writing materials. On a table in the middle of the room was the
best lamp in the house. Apollonia had brought it to the beloved
Signorina, as her ancestresses in the wild mountain village might have
laid offerings on Baal's shrine. The new mistress was to have all the
most beautiful and desirable things that the house could provide--was to
have them in spite of herself; for Apollonia's heart held no warmth for
those friends whom the Signorina had placed in the best rooms.
Mary was not conscious of fatigue, yet she sat with her elbows resting
heavily on the table, her chin in her hands.
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