Your love is a sham.
Begone! I despise you. I will not follow such as you."
At the same time I opened the door.
"I would not go without you," she cried; "and you--you would not have me
go without dishonour. Which of us is the more generous?"
"You are mad," I said. "You have lied to me; and you do not know what to
do to make a fool of me. However, you shall not go out from here without
swearing that your marriage with the lieutenant-general or any other man
shall not take place before you have been my mistress."
"Your mistress!" she said. "Are you dreaming? Could you not at least
soften the insult by saying your wife?"
"That is what any one of my uncles would say in my place; because they
would care only about your dowry. But I--I yearn for nothing but your
beauty. Swear, then, that you will be mine first; afterwards you shall
be free, on my honour. And if my jealousy prove so fierce that it may
not be borne, well, since a man may not go from his word, I will blow my
brains out."
"I swear," said Edmee, "to be no man's before being yours."
"That is not it. Swear to be mine before being any other's."
"It is the same thing," she answered. "Yes; I swear it."
"On the gospel? On the name of Christ? By the salvation of your soul? By
the memory of your mother?"
"On the gospel; in the name of Christ; by the salvation of my soul; by
the memory of my mother."
"Good.
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