"Well, Princess, it is time for me to go. Pardon me, then, if I ask you once more to make your choice."
The princess turned to her sons. "Well, my sons, what do you say to such an humble request from this cavalier?"
The young men looked down, nudged each other with their elbows, and were silent. At last Simeon muttered: "If you tell us, mother, to slay him, we will slay; if you say give the girl, we will give her."
"To give is bad, and to slay is bad." Then turning to Skshetuski, she said: "You have pushed us to the wall so closely that there is no escape. Bogun is a madman, ready for anything. Who will save us from his vengeance? He will perish himself through the prince, but he will destroy us first. What are we to do?"
"That is your affair."
The princess was silent for a time, then said: "Listen to me. All this must remain a secret. We will send Bogun to Pereyasláv, and will go ourselves with Helena to Lubni, and you will ask the prince to send us a guard at Rozlogi. Bogun has a hundred and fifty Cossacks in the neighborhood; part of them are here. You cannot take Helena immediately, for he would rescue her. It cannot be arranged otherwise. Go your way, therefore; tell the secret to no man, and wait for us."
"But won't you betray me?"
"If we only could; but we cannot, as you see yourself. Give your word that you will keep the secret."
"If I give it, will you give the girl?"
"Yes, for we are unable not to give her, though we are sorry for Bogun."