"I warned you," said my lord. He smiled, and the eyes he kept on his brother's face were black in their intensity. "Well, we are all worthless knaves and fools, but I have done with this."
"Take my lady home," broke in Susannah.
"Not yet," said Rose Lyndwood. He drew his rapier with a soft, bright sound, and laughed in Marius's face.
"Ah, that!" cried the younger man; and his eyes began to shine. "Do you force bloodshed on me, my lord?"
The Earl struck him on the breast with the flat of his sword.
"Do you want me to strike you across the face, you poor weak hypocrite?" he cried. "Cannot you answer for what you have done?"
Marius put his hand to his hilt. The Countess gave a sobbing laugh, and kept her eyes on them, gloating over my lord's fury.
She came forward.
"My lord," she said, "I am not here by chance. I love your brother, even to the same measure that I hate you."