He rose, and, walking to her, bent in two, all trembling on his legs, he shouted, while again he shook his clenched fists at her:
“What’s that you say? What’s that you dare to say? I, I, your lord and master, order you to join me the moment that I send for you.”
“I shall not join you. I swear it before God! I swear it as I hope to be saved.”
He stamped his feet with rage. His face underwent a hideous contortion; and he roared:
“That means that you want to stay! Yes, you have reasons which I don’t know, but which are easy to guess! An affair of the heart, I suppose. There’s some one in your life, no doubt. . . . Hold your tongue, will you? . . . Haven’t you always detested me? . . . Your hatred does not date from to-day. It dates back to the first time you saw me, to a time even before our marriage. . . . We have always lived like mortal enemies. I loved you. I worshipped you. A word from you would have brought me to your feet. The mere sound of your steps thrilled me to the marrow. . . . But your feeling for me is one of horror. And you imagine that you are going to start a new life, without me? Why, I’d sooner kill you, my beauty!”
He had unclenched his fists; and his open hands were clutching on either side of Coralie, close to her head, as though around a prey which they seemed on the point of throttling. A nervous shiver made his jaws clash together. Beads of perspiration gleamed on his bald head.
In front of him, Coralie stood impassive, looking very small and frail. Patrice Belval, in an agony of suspense and ready at any moment to act, could read nothing on her calm features but aversion and contempt.
Mastering himself at last, Essarès said:
“You shall join me, Coralie. Whether you like it or not, I am your husband. You felt it just now, when the lust to murder me made you take up a weapon and left you without the courage to carry out your intention. It will always be like that. Your independent fit will pass away and you will join the man who is your master.”
“I shall remain behind to fight against you,” she replied, “here, in this house. The work of treason which you have accomplished I shall destroy. I shall do it without hatred, for I am no longer capable of hatred, but I shall do it without intermission, to repair the evil which you have wrought.”