"Ah! you do not know," she said, amid her sobs. "Those women—those songs. Ah! let me die!"
"No, do not say that! We are surrounded by enemies, but I fear them not. Come, we must leave this place."
But, with her brain still excited by opium, she continued to resist.
"Jane, you know me?—I am Esperance. Let us fly, and find our happiness together. Jane—dear Jane!"
His voice was so tender and so persuasive that suddenly the terror-stricken expression left the girl's face. She placed her hands on his shoulder, and contemplated him in a sort of ecstasy.
"Yes, I remember. Esperance, how I love you!"
At this instant, like a chorus behind the scenes, there came the shouts of ribald laughter. She fell on the floor, crying: "Alas! alas! I am accursed!"
The door of the room was thrown open, and a man entered. This man was Benedetto.