"What do you believe in most?" he asked suddenly and almost brutally.
She turned, startled, and looked him in the face.
"Because, if you believe in God, as I suppose you do, I take God to witness that I shall be a dead man this night, unless you promise to go with me."
She stared, and turned white to the lips, as he had never seen her turn pale before. She leaned forward, gazing into his eyes and breathing hard.
"You do not mean that," she said, as though trying hard to convince herself.
"I mean it," he answered slowly, pale himself, and knowing what he said.
She leaned nearer to him and took his arms with her hands, for she could not speak. The terrible question was in his eyes.
"You would kill yourself, if I refused—if I would not go with you?" Still she could not believe him.
"Yes," he answered.
Once more the room was very still, as the two looked into one another's eyes. But Maria Addolorata said nothing. The frown deepened on Dalrymple's face, and his strong mouth was drawn, as a man draws in his lips at the moment of meeting death.