His Other Wife: A Novel — page 289: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

A VULTURE ON GUARD. 281 Nevertheless, she met his terrible eye unflinchingly, as she answered : | ‘‘It is as Heaven pleases whether I shall ever love or not, but, rather than give myself unloving, I would die ten thousand times.” ‘‘That is more easily said than done, fair maiden. Death does not always answer to our call, and there are - worse fates than that I offer you. Come—reflect. We are as good as alone, you and I, upon this silent world of water and of darkness; give me your hand in solemn pledge that you will be my wife as soon as priest be found to wed us, and from that instant until the one in which we meet to plight the marriage vows, I swear I will not even so much as speak to you, if you wish I should not.” | | He held out to her his strong right hand, whose bloody deeds he had been so long recounting to this ‘‘lily-maid” he now conjured to link her stainless youth with his dark life of crime. The girl drew back, and, instead of giving him the pledge he asked, she slipped-her cold white fingers within the bosom of her dress, where old Graff Conway's dagger lay against, her loudly beating heart. It flashed upon her now like a revelation that perhaps it was against a nearer pirate than he spoke of that the old man had thus armed her innocence. She said, without a quiver in her voice: ‘«Sir, it is not the deed of a brave man to place before a helpless girl- the alternative between pledging her honor Eomircbooks: (ECO) = m