"Robert, tempt me not; the current of my young love has rushed back upon me in an irresistible flood; therefore, if you love me, tempt me not!"
"Nay, Kate, dearest, 'tis but a word, and the last request you can have the power to grant me. Let me take your hand; 'twill be a spiritual union only."
He gently took her passive hand in his as he spoke, and said in a voice of love, that vibrated along every chord of her heart,
"Will you be mine?"
"Yes, yes!" she replied, with great agitation.
He kissed her cheek as she answered, and at the same instant a deep voice said,
"I pronounce you man and wife! Those whom God hath joined together let no man put asunder!"
The maiden shrieked and would have fallen to the floor but for the support of her husband's arm, who, turning in the utmost surprise, beheld Father Nanfan standing without and looking upon them through the grated window of the cell.