"Let us go out," I said in dismay; "you are not safe here."
He smiled, and his face expressed utter contempt for the danger I dreaded.
"Believe me," he said, as I seemed inclined to insist, "the man of whom you speak would not dare raise his hand against me, as he dares not even raise his eyes to mine."
I could not hear Leoni spoken of in that way. Despite all the wrongs he had done me, despite all his faults, he was still dearer to me than all the world. I requested Henryet not to refer to him in such terms before me.
"Overwhelm me with contempt," I said; "reproach me for being a heartless girl, utterly without pride; for having abandoned the best parents that ever lived; and for trampling on all the laws that are imposed upon my sex; I will take no offence, I will listen to you, weeping, and I will be none the less grateful to you for the offers of service you made me yesterday. But let me respect Leoni's name, it is the only treasure which, in the privacy of my heart, I can still oppose to the malediction of the world."
"Respect Leoni's name!" cried Henryet with a bitter laugh. "Poor woman! However, I will consent if you choose to start for Brussels! Go home and comfort your mother, return to the path of duty, and I promise to leave in peace the villain who has ruined you, and whom I could crush like a wisp of straw."
"Return to my mother!" I replied. "Oh! yes, my heart bids me do it every moment in the day; but my pride forbids me to return to Brussels. How should I be treated by all the women who were jealous of my splendor, and who rejoice now at my degradation?"
"I am afraid, Juliette," said he, "that is not your strongest reason. Your mother has a country house where you can live with her far away from the hardhearted world. With your fortune you can live anywhere you please where your disgrace is not known, and where your beauty and your sweet nature would soon bring you new friends. But confess that you do not wish to leave Leoni."
"I do wish to," I replied, weeping, "but I cannot."
"Unfortunate, most unfortunate of women!" said Henryet sadly; "you are naturally good and beautiful, but you lack pride. Where noble pride is lacking, there is nothing to build upon. Poor weak creature! I pity you from the bottom of my soul, for you have profaned your heart, you have soiled it by contact with a vile heart, you have bent your neck under a hand stained with crime, you love a dastard! I ask myself how I could ever have loved you, but I also ask myself how I could fail to pity you now."