"A promise isn't enough," he said.
"An oath, then?"
"Yes. An oath."
"And you will bring me back that abominable key, and tell Count Feri just what has happened."
"If you will swear," he insisted.
"Yes, yes, I will swear," she cried eagerly now, for indeed a heavy load had been lifted off her heart, and her natural buoyancy of temperament was already reasserting its sway over her terrors and agony of mind. "What do you want me to say?"
"Swear by Almighty God," he said earnestly, "to leave Erös Béla alone, never to flirt with him or do anything to cause Elsa the slightest unhappiness."
"I swear it by Almighty God," she said solemnly, "and you need not be afraid," she added slowly; "I will not break my oath."
"No! I am not afraid that you will, for if you do . . . Well! we won't talk about that," he continued more lightly. "I suppose there isn't much time to be lost."
"No, no, there isn't," she urged, "and don't make straight for the main road; go up the village first and then back through the fields; Leopold might suspect something—one never knows."