I came to
you and implored assistance in my extremity, but you turned away, and left
me in despair. Do not, therefore, accuse me of cruelty if I demand by force
that which you have denied as a free gift. You know that I have the power
of life and death over yourself and Hamilton, and I now ask you, as a last
resort, to choose between assenting to become my wife and seeing your lover
at the stake! You may well start and turn pale; for as sure as there is a
sky above and the earth beneath us, I swear that one or the other fate
shall be yours. Make your own election, and, in doing so, bear in mind that
Hamilton's death will be gratuitous, if caused, for you shall then be worse
than my wife. As a lawful companion, I will use my best endeavors to make
you happy; as a companion in what the world calls _guilt_, I will bind
myself by no such promise. Think of all these things, and then decide."
"Louis Durant, the very proposition you make, accompanied as it is by the
alternative, is one of such black enormity, that if nothing else were added
to debase you in my estimation, I would spurn your offer as I would the
proffered hand of Satan himself or of the vilest imp in the loathsome pit
of night where he reigns! You have your answer. As well try to pluck the
sun from his place in the heavens or wrench the sparkling stars from the
firmament as to alter my resolve.
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