"Always!" said Zaklika, raising two fingers, as though he were taking an oath.
"I wish to entrust you with the most precious thing that I possess," said the Countess, lowering her voice, "but you must promise me that you will sacrifice your life, rather than give up that which I am about to give you; that you will guard my honour as--"
"As a holy relic," said Zaklika, raising his fingers a second time. "You may rely on me!"
"No one must know that you possess this thing."
"Do you wish me to swear?"
"No; I believe your word. But you must know what it is you have to guard. I said you would be the guardian of my honour. When the King granted me a divorce from my husband, he gave me a written and sealed promise that he would marry me, otherwise I should never have consented to such a life. They will try to take this promise from me. They may torture me, but I will never tell them where it is. I cannot conceal it here, for they can banish me, and it would not be safe to carry it with me."
She opened a mahogany box ornamented with gold, and took from it a small leather bag with a silk cord.
"You will not betray me!" said she, looking into his eyes.
Tears rolled down Zaklika's cheeks, as he knelt down before her and kissed her hands; then, suspending the bag round his neck, he said, in a voice full of emotion,--
"This shall only be taken from me with my life."