"But he is afraid that you will hereafter regret your pledge of marriage."
"Frank!"
"That you, as the possessor of incredible wealth, will look back with wonder, with contempt upon the hour, when you plighted your faith to one like me!"
"One like you! Frank, Frank, do you think thus?"
"That once secure in your possessions, you will regard as worse than idle words, a promise made to the daughter of your enemy,—to a woman, whose life has been—spare me—"
She buried her head upon his breast; he drew her to him and felt the beating of her heart.
"Oh, Frank, can you think thus meanly of me?" he cried, completely carried away by her wild beauty, her agitation, her tears. "My promise once made cannot be taken back. I know what I promise; I know the future. I have risen from the grave of my past life; you, too, shall rise from the grave of your past life. We will begin life anew. We will walk the world together! Oh, would that this hour, this moment, I could make my compact good, beyond all chance of change, all danger of repeal!"
"Do you really wish thus, Gulian?" She raised her face, and her soul was in her eyes. "Is that the deepest wish of your heart?"
"Frank, I swear it!"
She took the white cross from his neck,—held it for a moment over her head; it glittered brightly in the light; and then she wound the chain about her own neck, and the white cross glittered on her proud bosom.