"I think you must be mad!"
That was all he could find to say.
CHAPTER XX
Marietta shook her head. She still knelt at her father's feet, holding his hands.
"I am not mad," she said. "I am in earnest. I cannot marry him. It is impossible."
"You must marry him," answered Beroviero. "You are betrothed to him, and it would be an insult to his family to break off the marriage now. Besides, you have no reason to give, not the shadow of a reason."
Marietta dropped his hands and rose to her feet lightly. She had expected a terrific outburst of anger, which would gradually subside, after which she hoped to find words with which to influence him. But like many hot-tempered men, he was sometimes unexpectedly calm at critical moments, as if he were really able to control his nature when he chose. She now almost wished that he would break out in a rage, as women sometimes hope we may, for they know it is far easier to deal with an angry man than with a determined one.
"I will not marry him," she said at last, with strong emphasis, and almost defiantly.
"My child," Beroviero answered gravely, "you do not know what you are saying."