"For God's sake, shut the door! If
Angelo should come!"
Neither Vanno nor Peter moved. They wished Angelo to come. Seeing them
stand there, rigid, relentless, Marie realized as she had not fully
realized before that they were her enemies, that no softness or
prettiness, no agony of tears could turn their hearts. She sprang up
with a choking cry, and stumbled toward the door. Vanno, thinking she
meant to run away, took two long steps and placed himself before her.
"Angel with the flaming sword!" were the words that spoke themselves in
Peter's mind. But she had no pity yet for Marie.
"I--I only want to shut the door--that's all--because you wouldn't," the
Princess faltered. "Just for a few minutes. It's all I ask. Give me a
little time."
Vanno closed the door without noise, and stood in front of it like a
sentinel. "You may have a few minutes," he said. "Then I shall call
Angelo to hear the truth from you or from me. It's for you to choose
which."
"Haven't you any mercy in your heart?" she wailed. "I'm only a woman.
I'm your brother's wife. He loves me."
"I love Mary," Vanno said.
"It was Mary who spared me. She saw it was worse for me than for her,
because I'm married to Angelo. My whole life's at stake. That's why she
sacrificed herself. I----"
"The more you say, the worse you make us hate you," Peter cut her short.
"You were always selfish. Even when I liked you, I used to think you
just like a white Persian cat. When you were petted, you purred.
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