"Will you tell him?" she asked.
But he would not have been a man, much less a lover, if he could answer that question now. Seizing her by the arm, he looked her wildly in the face.
"Do you mean to kill yourself?" he demanded.
"I feel I shall not live," she gasped, while her hand went involuntarily to her heart.
He gazed at her in horror.
"And if he is cleared?" he hoarsely ejaculated.
"I—I shall try to endure my fate."
He gave her another long, long look.
"So this is the alternative you give me?" he bitterly exclaimed. "I must either save this man or see you perish. Well," he declared, after a few minutes' further contemplation of her face, "I will save this man—that is, if he will allow me to do so."
A flash of joy such as he had not perceived on her countenance for weeks transformed its marble-like severity into something of its pristine beauty.