"Stay?" she said. "Do not ring."
His hand fell from the bell, and he stood regarding her with eager, watchful eyes.
"You—you consent?" he asked hoarsely.
Without moving her eyes, she seemed to look at him.
"Tell me," she said, in slow, mechanical tones, "tell me all—all that you wish me to do, all that I must do to save them."
Her agony touched him, but he remained inflexible, immovable.
"It is soon told," he said. "Say to me, 'Jasper, I will be your wife!' and I am content. In return, I promise that on the day, the hour in which you become my wife, I will give you this paper; upon it the boy's fate depends. Once this is destroyed he is safe—absolutely."
She held out her hand mechanically.
"Let me look at it."
He glanced at her, scarcely suspiciously but hesitatingly, for a moment, then placed the paper in her hands.