As she paused, Manuel
flung down the lorgnette and was striding past her with ireful
impetuosity, but the white arms took him captive, adding another figure
to the picture framed by the green arch as she whispered decisively, "No
farther! There must be no violence. You promised obedience and I exact
it. Do you think detection to a man so lost to honor would wound as
deeply as the sights which make his daily watch a torment? Or that a
blow would be as hard to bear as the knowledge that his own act has
placed you where you are and made him what he is? Silent contempt is the
law now, so let this insult pass, unclench your hand and turn that
defiant face to me, while I console you for submission with a kiss."
He yielded to the command enforced by the caress but drew her jealously
from sight, and still glanced rebelliously through the leaves, asking
with a frown, "Why show me this if I may not resent it? How long must I
bear with this man? Tell me your design, else I shall mar it in some
moment when hatred of him conquers love of you."
"I will, for it is tune, because though I have taken the first step you
must take the second. I showed you this that you might find action
pleasanter than rest, and you must bear with this man a little longer
for my sake, but I will give you an amusement to beguile the time.
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