"If thine handmaiden has found grace in the sight of my lord, the
duke, let my request be done even according to the prayer of my lips."
Perez leaned forward toward the beautiful upward turning face.
"Whatever you want," he murmured.
"To the half of my dukedom, you must say."
"To the half of my dukedom," he repeated, in a mechanical voice, not
removing his eyes from hers.
"Do you pledge your honor?" she demanded, still retaining her
position.
If he had known that she intended asking him to blow his own brains
out the next moment, and had expected to keep his promise, he must
needs, with her kneeling so before him, have answered "yes," and so he
did in fact reply.
"Thanks," she said, rising lightly to her feet, "you make a very good
duke indeed, and to reward you I shall not ask for anything like half
your dukedom, but only for a scrap of paper. Here is ink and paper and
a pen. Please write me a pass to go to Pittsfield. Dr. Partridge says
I must have change of air, and I don't want to be stopped by your
soldiers."
A ghastly pallor overspread his face. "You're not going away," he
stammered, rising slowly up.
"To be sure I am. What else should I want of the pass? Come, you're
not going to make me do all that asking over again.
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