“Renzo, Renzo, for the love of charity, take care what you do; think of your soul.”
“I must know it at once—this moment.” So saying, he placed his hand on his dagger, but perhaps without intending it.
“Mercy!” exclaimed Don Abbondio, in a stifled voice.
“I must know it.”
“Who has told you?”
“Come, no more excuses. Speak plainly and quickly.”
“Do you mean to kill me?”
“I mean to know that which I have a right to know.”
“But if I speak, I die. Must I not preserve my life?”
“Speak, then.”