their heads, and
the silent face in the bust seemed to be looking down on them. Then the
Baron's icy cheeks quivered visibly, and he said in a low, hoarse voice:

"I'm sorry! Very sorry! For in that case I may be compelled to justify
your conclusion that a Minister has no humanity and no pity. If David
Rossi cannot be arrested by the authorisation of Parliament, he must be
arrested when Parliament is not in session, and then his identity will
have to be established in a public tribunal. In that event you will be
forced to appear, and having refused to make a private statement in the
secrecy of a magistrate's office, you will be compelled to testify in
the Court of Assize."

"Ah, but you can't make me do that!" cried Roma excitedly, as if seized
by a sudden thought.

"Why not?"

"Never mind why not. You can't do it, I tell you," she cried excitedly.

He looked at her as if trying to penetrate her meaning, and then said:

"We shall see."

At that moment the fretful voice of the Countess was heard calling to
the Baron from the adjoining room.

II

Roma went to her bedroom when the Baron left her, and remained there
until late in the afternoon. In spite of the bold front she had put on,
she was quaking with terror and tortured by remorse. Never before had
she realised David Rossi's peril with such awful vividness, and seen her
own position in relation to him in its hideous nakedness.

Was it her duty to confess to David Rossi that at the beginning of their
friendship she had set out to betray him? Only so could she be secure,
only so could she be honest, only so could she be true to the love he
gave her and the trust he reposed in her.

Yet why should she confess? The abominable impulse was gone. Something
sweet and tender had taken its place. To confess to him now would be
cruel. It would wound his beautiful faith in her.

And yet the seeds she had sown were beginning to fructify. They might
spring up anywhere at any moment, and choke the life that was dearer to
her than her own. Thank God, it was still impossible to injure him
except by her will and assistance. But her will might be broken and her
assistance might be forced, unless the law could be invoked to protect
her against itself. It could and it should be invoked! When she was
married to David Rossi no law in Italy would compel her to witness
against him.

But if Rossi hesitated from any cause, if he delayed their m