"No, not you; but I—I wanted to give them to you, to see you dressed in them.—Well, Miretta, that desire I am able to satisfy now. Come, look!"
Giovanni took Miretta's hand, led her to the chest, opened a false bottom, and showed her a heap of gold pieces, jewels, and diamonds, which half filled the great box.
"Do you see that gold? do you see all those treasures? A few more months in Paris, and I shall have twice as much! Then I will return to Italy; and if you will go with me, you shall be the most fashionable, the most coquettish, the most richly dressed of women!"
Miretta turned away from the chest with a gesture of horror.
"I! array myself in jewels that you have stolen! Oh! never! never! That gold makes me ill! Look you, Giovanni—I must needs love you very dearly to be still in the room with you after the confession you have made to me! And yet, I am grateful to you for having confided this terrible secret to me; I thank you for having such confidence in me.—Ah! you know full well that I will not betray it!—Yes, my love is so great that I can forgive everything, forget everything! But, in pity's name! for the love of God! renounce this ghastly career; leave this path of crime in which, sooner or later, you will meet your punishment! You wanted wealth—well, have you not enough? Take what you have acquired by such evil means, since you have the courage to make use of it without remorse. But come with me; let us leave Paris, and France, to-morrow—nay, this very night! I will stay with you, to watch over your safety, to turn aside the dangers that may threaten you. When all danger is at an end, then I will leave you, if my presence annoys you; but, near or far, I will watch over you, and every morning and every evening I will pray God to forgive your crimes and open your heart to repentance.—Giovanni, my Giovanni, do not spurn my entreaties; trust a secret voice which tells me that death awaits you in the frightful trade you ply. I beg you on my knees—abandon it, and let us fly—far, far from Paris—to the end of the world—so far that you will be in no danger.—Oh! I was mad just now when I preferred to know that you were a criminal rather than in love with another woman; heaven is punishing me for that blasphemy.—Giovanni, I give you back your liberty, your oaths; I will forgive you if you do love another woman. But, in the name of the Madonna who presided over your birth, tell me, oh! tell me that you will abandon this career, which will surely lead you to the scaffold!"
The girl had thrown herself at her lover's feet, she held his hands, she raised to his face her eyes wet with tears; and at that moment there was something sublime in the expression of her features.
But Giovanni had listened to her with no outward evidence of emotion. When she ceased to speak, he raised her, seated her on the sofa, took his seat beside her, and said with perfect tranquillity:
"My dear love, I forbade you to follow me, to come to France. I was wise to do so; I anticipated some such scene as this. If you will take my advice, you will return instantly to Milan."
"With you?"
"No; without me."