“I’ve got you; do you understand? You will have to obey what the Family has decided, or else....”
“Or else ... what?”
She no longer troubled to feign indifference: she assumed a tone of bravado and mockery: “Too late!” she cried. “You have given evidence in my favour: you can’t go back on it. You will be convicted of perjury....”
“Another piece of evidence can always be discovered. I have such a further proof in my desk. There is no statute of limitations for evidence, thank God!”
She shuddered:
“What do you want of me?” she asked.
He consulted his notes, and for a few seconds Thérèse sat listening to the stupendous silence of Argelouse. The hour of cock-crow was yet far off: no living water flowed in that desert, not a breath of wind moved the countless tree-tops.
“I am not giving way to any personal considerations. I am disregarding myself: the Family alone counts. The interests of the Family have always dictated all my decisions. I have consented for the honour of the Family, to cheat the justice of my country. God will be my judge.”
This pompous tone made Thérèse feel ill. She felt like asking him to express himself more simply.