"Oh, yes, you will; when Mr. Alymer is dead."
"Dead!" shrieked Mrs. Dallas, all her superstition roused by the word. "Come away from that man, Isabella."
"Maurice dead!" repeated the girl, with a pale cheek.
The young man shrugged his shoulders.
"Pooh! pooh! some nonsense that Dr. Etwald was talking about last night," he added, contemptuously. "He says if I marry, it will be a case of life in death, whatever that means."
Etwald rose to his feet and stretched out a menacing hand.
"I have warned you, Alymer," he said, sternly. "Your marriage, after or before it, means life in death. Take care! Ladies," he added, with a bow, "I take my departure."
Outside Etwald found Dido waiting for him. He looked at her significantly.
"I have failed," he said. "There is nothing left but the devil-stick."