Page:Idalia, by 'Ouida' volume 2.djvu/202

Rh waves of his hair out of his eyes, while great drops of dew stood on his forehead.

"Can you credit me nothing better than that?"

"Caro mio, how can I credit you with anything better than caring for money? It is the one prudential virtue which the world does crown!" The Greek's teeth crushed his silken beard, while his features quivered with the vivid, uncontrolled emotion of his changing temperament.

"I am not thinking of her wealth; I think of her—of my own sins to her, of her beauty, of her genius, of her life."

His voice sank in a deep sob; he spoke but the truth for the moment; he thought for the instant not of himself, but of Idalia; not of his own danger, not of his own loss, but of her torture. He loved her in his wayward, tyrannous way; and for awhile the love alone remained with him.

"She is in the power of Villaflor!" he said, fíercely. Remorse was in him, and remorse made him long to wreak some savage vengeance somewhere; he would have little cared how or on whom.

"They say so. You know as much as I do. It has been a terrible blow to us; to keep quiet, and cover as much as we can, is all we shall be able to do. There was great carnage at Antina, and the