He waited to see if she would make any further protest, but she set her
lips firmly and refused to speak. There was nothing more to be said on
her side. Evidently Sobrenski had found the letter, and when or where
it had been found mattered not at all. He continued:

"The sentence has been passed and it falls upon you to execute it."

The answer came back swiftly:

"And if I refuse?"

For once in his life Sobrenski was taken aback, and experienced a new
sensation, that of surprise. He looked at her with almost approval.
If he was cruel he was also courageous, and able to appreciate the
virtue in others.

"You know what your refusal implies?" he questioned, more gently than
he had yet spoken. "You refused some time ago to carry a message. You
will perhaps remember that I gave you the choice between doing as you
were told, or--" he gesticulated expressively. "You were wise then. I
hope you will be wise now."

Arithelli's thoughts were going at racing speed. No one could be long
in a room alone with Sobrenski without being impressed by his
overpowering personality. He affected her in a way that no one else
ever did, in provoking her to futile outbursts of defiance and anger.
She had never lost her head with anyone else, but he always made her
incapable of reasoning, raging one minute, and cowed the next.
Hitherto Emile had always been there to screen and protect her, to
stand between her and her enemy. She knew now why he had so often
hoped to see her in her coffin.

"I can't murder! I undertook to work for the Cause, but not that--_Mon
Dieu_! not that!"

"We don't talk about murder," Sobrenski sneered. "We merely 'remove'
those who have proved themselves untrustworthy. You undertook to obey
orders, I believe. You may contradict me if I am incorrect."

He leant forward with the glittering eyes of the fanatic. "You talk of
murder and forget that to us human life is nothing. Do you think you
will save Vardri by refusing? Am I to suppose that he has infected you
also with the taint of disloyalty? It is your business to loathe a
traitor as we do. You wear your badge, but do you never read the words
on it? Poleski used to tell me great things of your enthusiasm, your
devotion. Now I am putting you to the test. You like to act a
picturesque part, it seems, to wear boy's clothes, to sing, to be the
only woman among us, to act the heroine. We do not want acting here.
This is Life, not the stage