He faced her again, stern and rigid.
"Cease thy entreaties. I will go alone."
"No, we will all go."
"Hannah," he said, his voice tremulous with pain and astonishment, "dost thou, too, set light by thy father?"
"Yes," she cried, and there was no answering tremor in her voice. "Now thou knowest! I am not a good Jewish maiden. Levi and I are brother and sister. His touch profane me, forsooth!" She laughed bitterly.
"Thou wilt take this journey though I forbid thee?" he cried in acrid accents, still mingled with surprise.
"Yes; would I had taken the journey thou wouldst have forbidden ten years ago!"
"What journey? thou talkest madness."
"I talk truth. Thou hast forgotten David Brandon; I have not. Ten years last Passover I arranged to fly with him, to marry him, in defiance of the Law and thee."
A new pallor overspread the Reb's countenance, already ashen. He trembled and almost fell backwards.