"Great God! great God!" said Mila, panting with fear and surprise, "this monk is so ill-disposed toward us and able to injure us so! Is he Abbé Ninfo?"
"Speak lower, girl, and do not let that accursed name reach the ears that surround you to-day. Be calm; seem to know nothing and to be doing nothing. If you say a word of all this to anybody, no matter who it may be, you will be prevented from saving those whom you love. You will be told to distrust me, because your own prudence and strength of will are distrusted. Who knows if I shall not be taken for your enemy? I am not afraid of anyone, but I am afraid that my friends will destroy themselves by their indecision. You alone can save them, Mila! Will you do it?"
"Yes, I will," she said; "but what will become of me if you are deceiving me? if you do not keep the appointment?"
"Why, don't you know who I am?"
"No, I do not know; no one was willing to tell me."
"Look at me, then; venture to examine me carefully, and you will know me better from my face than all those people do who have spoken to you about me."
He put aside his hood, and was able to give to his handsome face so reassuring and affectionate and gentle an expression, that the simple-hearted Mila yielded to its dangerous influence.
"It seems to me," she said, with a blush, "that you are kind and honest; if the devil is in you, he has put on the mask of an angel."
