The commandant closed the door and stepped forward, his sallow face working.
"You are alone," he said. "None dare visit you without permission."
"I am never alone," she declared. "My friends left me when you entered; but they shall return when you depart."
"Am not I a friend? Nay, more—I am a relation," began Roussilac; but she checked him with the reproof: "I have no family now that Jean-Marie is dead."
"Your mother," he reminded her.
"She has delivered me into the power of the Church."
"Because it is best for you. I would care for your body, Madeleine, as your mother cares for your soul. Cousin, think not unkindly of me. I would release you; but what power have I to remove the judgment of the Abbé Laroche? He has sentenced you to close confinement, until——"
"My lover returns to release me," she finished, and backed from him with a laugh.
Roussilac clenched his fingers tightly, and jealousy venomed the words which then left his lips:
"Foolish girl, would you rouse all the evil in me? Bear with me, cousin," he went on quickly. "It is not in me to endure patiently. Since that day when I stood before you in the grove I have not known the meaning of peace. My nights have been long, my days dark, my position unprofitable——"