"Yes, by Jove, that we will, Eugénie!" broke in Conrad passionately. "If he should find he has made a bargain to his liking, and refuse to give it up, your brothers will compel him to yield at the point of the sword. He cannot threaten us now with shame and public humiliation as his father did. That was the only thing the Windegs feared, the only argument by which a daughter of their house could ever have been won from them."
His sister stopped him almost impatiently.
"There is no occasion for threats. Con, and none for your anxiety, papa. Both are equally uncalled for. That which you expect to have to fight for and win by force has long been a settled thing between Arthur and myself."
Windeg started up, and Conrad came a step nearer impetuously in his surprise.
Eugénie strove to give firmness to her voice, but she could not succeed; it quivered audibly as she went on:
"Before Herr Berkow's death we had come to an agreement about it, but we wished to avoid the éclat of too early and sudden a rupture, and so we imposed on ourselves the restraint of living for a time under the same roof."
"Before Berkow's death?" interrupted her brother. "Why, that was soon after you were married!"
"So you introduced the subject yourself?" said the Baron with equal animation. "Did you insist upon it?"
They neither of them seemed to understand the pain which was so plainly written on the young wife's face. She called up all her self-command and answered steadily.
"I never alluded to the matter. Arthur voluntarily offered me a separation."