The unhappy woman had heard everything, and in an almost inaudible voice she uttered an agonized prayer: "Mercy, Norbert! Have mercy! I swear to you that I am guiltless.

You never loved me, why should you fight for me.

Have pity! To-morrow, by all that I hold sacred, I swear to you that I will enter a convent, and you shall never see my face again.

Have pity!" "Pray heaven, madame, that it may be your lover's sword that pierces my heart.

It is your only hope, for then you will be free." He tore his coat from her fingers with brutal violence, and the unhappy woman fell to the floor with a shriek as he closed the door upon her, and followed his antagonist downstairs..