Long, long,
he has lied to me, pretending to seek with me for one I had lost, my
plighted love. In secret he robbed me of her. Heard you not his
answer when, to catch the lie on his very lips, I asked what news he
could give me of her. I knew that she was here; his own servant had
secretly avowed the truth to me. And you heard him say that she was
gone on far travel. Therefore it was that he would not harbour me in
his house--me, his friend. In the name of the Crucified, did I not
well to lay him low?'
Somewhat recovered from the emotions which had enfeebled him,
Gaudiosus held up his head, and made solemn answer.
'Not yours was it to take vengeance. The God to whom you appeal has
said: "Thou shalt do no murder."'
'Consider his crime,' returned the other. 'In the moment when he
swore falsely I lifted up my eyes, and behold, she herself stood
before me. She whom I loved, who had pledged herself to me, who long
ago would have been my wife but for the enemy who came between us--
she, hidden here with him, become a wanton in his embraces--'
A low cry of anguish interrupted him.
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