"Henri, keep calm."
"I wish to kill him."
"Listen to me."
"If he refuses to fight me, I will assassinate him and kill myself afterward. Marie shall be delivered from him."
"Henri, Henri! this is madness!"
"Oh, my God! she, she, treated in this way!" said David, in a heartrending voice. "To know that this angel of purity, this adorable mother and saint, is always at the mercy of this stupid and brutal man! And do you not see that if she does not die this time, he will kill her some other time?"
"I believe it, Henri, and yet he need not have her in his power."
"And you are not willing that I—"
"Henri," cried the doctor, seizing his friend's hand with effusion, "Henri, noble and excellent heart, come to yourself, be what you have always been, full of generosity and courage,—yes, of courage, for it is necessary to have courage to accomplish a cruel sacrifice, but one indispensable to the salvation of Madame Bastien."
"A sacrifice for Marie's salvation! Oh, speak, speak!"