"The truth is, Benedetto, that anything connected with the past is hideously painful to me. I wish to forget."
"You wish to forget, too, that you once tried to kill me."
"Let us say no more about that. Tell me frankly what you want me to do, and if possible I will do it."
"You are becoming more reasonable, Sanselme. But what is that new life of which you speak so glibly and with a certain tenderness in your voice? Perhaps I can guess. She is pretty, that is a fact!"
Sanselme started and took hold of Benedetto's arm.
"Not another word like that, Benedetto! Not if you wish to live!"
"Indeed! What would you do?"
"My fate is in your hands," answered Sanselme. "You can at any moment denounce me as an escaped convict. Do what you please, but you shall not say one word of her who is in this house."
"Upon my word, Sanselme, it seems to me that you carry matters with rather a high hand. Suppose I do not obey you?"
"Then I will denounce you, with the certainty that my arrest will follow yours. You may laugh when I say that in spite of my shameful past I am to-day an honest man, devoting my whole life to a creature who has no one but myself in the world. If she knew who I was she would despise me."