But Philip would not heed her. He wept like a child, and, in a voice broken with sobs, he cried:
"Ah, the sacrifice you demand is too much to ask of any human creature! God does not require it of us. If after creating us for each other it is His will that we should live forever apart and be eternally miserable, why has He united us to-night? Is not our meeting providential? Dolores, your decision cannot be irrevocable."
It required all her courage and determination to repress the loving words that rose to her lips from her overflowing heart.
"Come, Philip," she pleaded, striving to give a maternal tone to her voice.
"But promise me——"
"Ah well! to-morrow,——" she said, quietly, doing her best to calm him.
She succeeded. Philip rose, ready to follow her. She had already taken a candle from the table when footsteps were heard in the adjoining room.
"Good Heavens! it is Vauquelas! We are lost!"
"He will not enter here, perhaps," whispered Philip.
With a gesture, Dolores imposed silence: then she waited and listened, hoping that Vauquelas would pass on to his own room without pausing. Her hopes were not realized. Vauquelas rapped twice at the door.