"
I turned on him, staring: and in the flicker of his eyes as he lifted
them for one instant towards his master, I read the whole devilish
cunning of the plot. They might securely let her go, as an
Englishman's widow. The fact had merely to be proclaimed and the
islanders would have none of her. I am glad to remember that--my
brain keeping clear, albeit my pulse, already fast enough, leapt
hotly and quickened its speed--I had presence of mind to admire the
suggestion coolly, impersonally, and quite as though it affected me
no jot.
The Commandant bent his brows. Behind them--as it seemed to me--I
could read his thought working.
"If you, sir, have no objection," he said slowly, looking up and
addressing me with grave politeness, "I see much to be said for the
reverend father's proposal."
He turned to the Prince, who--cur that he was--directed his spiteful
glee upon his sister.
"It appears, O Camilla, that in our race to save each other's honour
I am to be winner. Nay, you may wear your approaching widowhood with
dignity, and boast in time to come that your husband once bore the
crown of Corsica.
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