She would not have you lose your life for her."
"Is it because my life is of more value to her than that of any other
man? Oh, tell me, I pray you?"
Another of her rare smiles passed over the grim face of the woman.
"It is a question that Mademoiselle Julie alone can answer," she said.
"But when she went to her room she wept a little and her tears were not
those of sorrow."
"Oh, then, Suzanne, she is indeed glad that I am here. Tell her that I
came for her, and that I will not go away until she goes too."
"She is in no great danger here; she is a prisoner, but they treat her
as a guest, one of high degree."
"Auersperg would force her to marry him."
Suzanne smiled once more, but gravely.
"The prince would marry her," she said, "and he is not the only one who
wishes to do so. But fear not. Auersperg cannot force her to marry him.
She is of the same tempered steel as her brother, the great Monsieur
Philip. Were she a man as he is, she would dare as much as he does, and
being a woman she will dare in a woman's way none the less."
"And the others, Kratzek and Pappenheim, and von Arnheim if he should
come, they are young and brave and true! Might she not, as the only way
of escape from the high-handed baron, marry one of them?"
For the fourth time Suzanne smiled. Never before had she permitted
herself that luxury so many times in a month, but there was an odd glint
in this latest smile of hers, which gave to her face a rare look of
softness.
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