But at the same time she was relying upon a good-natured reprieve in exchange for all which she had revealed, upon a gallant clemency ...

because she was she.
As the fatal word sounded, she uttered a cry, became ashy pale, and leaned upon the lawyer for support.
"I do not want to die!...

I ought not to die!...

I am innocent." She continued shrieking her innocence, without giving any other proof of it than the desperate instinct of self-preservation.

With the credulity of one who wishes to save herself, she accepted all the problematical consolations of her defender.