“I mean to be heard,” began the Greek, but she cut him short with a sudden stamp of her foot.
“You can mean what you like,” she said imperiously, “but heard you will not be!”
“You beautiful fury!”
“Go away and leave me!”
“Helena,” cried the Count, falling on his knees, “I love you! I adore you! Do not refuse to be my wife.”
“I do refuse!”
“But your father?”
“Leave my father out of the question, Andros. You have asked me to be your wife, and I tell you plainly, No. Perhaps I have been rather angry, but when you ask a woman to honor you by becoming your wife, you should not treat her as if she were a bundle of goods to be handed from one man to another.”
“You refuse me?” asked Caliphronas, hardly able to believe his own ears.
“I do, once and for all! Come, Andros, stop talking such nonsense, and forget all this scene.”