"Ah, it's you, it's you!" she stammered. "They haven't touched you!"
And, rising and pointing to the back of the shop:
"There . . . he went out that side . . . I heard him. . . . I am sure. . . . You must go . . . please!"
"I must get you away first," he said.
"No, never mind me . . . go after him. . . . I entreat you. . . . Strike him!"
Fear, this time, instead of dejecting her, seemed to be giving her unwonted strength; and she repeated, with an immense longing to place her terrible enemy in his power:
"Go after him first. . . . I can't go on living like this. . . . You must save me from him. . . . I can't go on living. . . ."
He unfastened her bonds, laid her carefully on the sofa and said:
"You are right. . . . Besides, you have nothing to fear here. . . . Wait for me, I shall come back."
As he was going away, she caught hold of his hand: