“Speak, my love; I will do everything for thee.”
Then the little girl, seizing her hand, and pressing it to her lips, whispered,—
“I want Aunt Marynia to love Pan Stas.”
In the silence which followed after these words was to be heard only the somewhat increased breathing of the little girl. At last the calm voice of Marynia was heard,—
“Very well, my love.”
A spasm of weeping seized Pan Stanislav suddenly by the throat; everything, not excluding Marynia, vanished from his eyes before that child, who, at such a moment, sick, powerless, and in the face of death, thought only of him.
Litka asked further,—
“And will aunt marry Pan Stas?”
In the light of the blue lamp Marynia’s face seemed very pale; her lips quivered, but she answered without hesitation,—
“I will, Litus.”