Page:Idalia, by 'Ouida' volume 3.djvu/164

Rh "I had;—how much, let all I have lost, and sinned, and wrecked, and slain for you bear witness."

"And yet!" "And yet—here in your hands I break it, and break from it, I am absolved from my vows for ever. I swore them to a patriot; you I know not—you, a brigand, an assassin!"

"Is an apostate nobler than an assassin, then, that you vaunt your treachery and upbraid mine?"

"Nobler in nothing; but apostacy is your guilt, not mine. To truth, to liberty, to the peoples, I am loyal; you have forsaken these—forsaken! were you ever true to them? did ever you know aught of them?—and leagued yourself with fraud, with avance, with slaughter."

"Bitterwords."

"Bitter? God pardon you—if you heard but sheer and simple justice of all your guilt to me, would not the blackest words in language fail to yield your due? But—let us part in silence; I cannot give you over to your proper fate, for the sake of the only life we ever cherished in common. Tempt my vengeance no longer; if you be wise, go—go while I can still let you go unharmed." "I stayed, at peril of life, to succour you if I could