in dignity.

'Have I asked money of you, sir?'

'Oh, no!' answered Stradella readily. 'I only wished----'

She interrupted him, as if she were his equal.

'Even a servant may love something better than a bribe!' she said.

'I beg your pardon,' Stradella found himself saying, a good deal to his
own surprise, for he had not expected to hurt a serving-woman's feelings
by speaking of money. 'I misunderstood you.'

'You did indeed, sir!' answered Pina. 'All I ask of you is that you will
take me with you in your flight, for the Senator will certainly have me
murdered if I am left behind. Afterwards, if my lady does not want me, I
will look for another place, or live by lace-making.'

Stradella did not like the answer. The Sicilian character has grave
defects: it is revengeful, over-proud, violent, and sometimes cruel; but
it is generally truthful, and it is, above all, direct.

'You talk lightly of leaving your mistress,' said the musician. 'It is
not for love of her that you are ready to help us.'

Pina faced him fearlessly.

'You are right,' she answered. 'And yet she is the one living being I
love at all. Affection is not the only motive one may have, sir.'

'Nor love of money either,' Stradella said thoughtfully. 'The third is
hate. Last of all comes charity!'

'I am not a saint, sir,' said Pina. 'So you are answered. I hate my
master, and I have the right to hate him. That is my affair. If I dared
kill him, I would, but I should not have the courage to bear being
tortured if I were arrested and tried. I am only a woman, and I fear
bodily pain more than anything. That is why I did not kill the Senator
twenty years ago.'

The musician watched the cold, resentful face that had once been so
handsome, and though he could not guess her story he partly understood
her.

'You are frank,' he said. 'I see that you are in earnest, and that I can
trust you.'

'Trust me for anything, sir, except to resist torture,' Pina answered.
'I know what it is,' she added in a low voice, and avoiding his eyes as
if she were suddenly ashamed. 'As for my master,' she went on, turning
to Stradella again a moment later, 'I believe he would rather die than
be made a laughing-stock. I know that he yesterday announced to his
friends his betrothal to his niece, which has been a secret for several
weeks. I can hear the fine ladies and gentlemen laughing at him when
they learn that she has run away with her music-master on the eve of her