Rivers?"
"None--none. Accept them, and he lives--I will free him, as I promise.
Refuse them--deny me, and he must die, and nothing may save him then."
"Then he must die, sir!--we must both die--before we choose such terms.
Sir, let me call my father. Our conference must end here. You have
chosen a cruel office, but I can bear its infliction. You have
tantalized a weak heart with hope, only to make it despair the more. But
I am now strong, sir--stronger than ever--and we speak no more on this
subject."
"Yet pause--to relent even to-morrow may be too late. To-night you must
determine, or never."
"I have already determined. It is impossible that I can determine
otherwise. No more, sir!"
"There is one, lady--one young form--scarcely less beautiful than
yourself, who would make the same--ay, and a far greater--sacrifice than
this, for the safety of Ralph Colleton. One far less happy in his love
than you, who would willingly die for him this hour. Would you be less
ready than she is for such a sacrifice?"
"No, not less ready for death--as I live--not less willing to free him
with the loss of my own life.
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