“Never!”
“You will not have pity?”
“I should forfeit my honor.”
“And, if you let an innocent one be condemned, what would that be?”
Mechinet was evidently suffering anguish. Amazed, overcome, he did
not know what to say, what to do. At last he thought of one reason for
refusing, and stammered out,--
“And if I were found out? I should lose my place, ruin my sisters,
destroy my career for life.”
With trembling hands, Dionysia drew from her pocket the bonds which her
grandfather had given her, and threw them in a heap on the table. She
began,--
“There are twenty thousand francs.”