“But you would have been condemned; the evidence was all against you.”
“Let us not talk of that now,” he insisted. “We have come back to a faith in each other. You believe my word?”
“Yes.”
“And I yours.”
His hand clasp tightened, and there was that in his eyes which frightened me.
“No, no, Monsieur,” I exclaimed, and drew back quickly. “Do not say more, for I am here with you alone, and there will be trouble enough when Cassion returns.”
“Do I not know that,” he said, yet releasing my hands. “Still it can surely do no harm for us to understand each other. You care nothing for Cassion; you dislike, despise the man, and there is naught sacred in your marriage. We are in the wilderness, not Quebec, and La Barre has little authority here. You have protected me with your silence––was it not because you cared for me?”
“Yes, Monsieur; you have been my friend.”
“Your friend! Is that all?”