[PAUL _falls prostrate into chair near table. Supporting_ DIANE _to
the door of his cell, the_ DUKE _pauses and speaks_.]
Paul Kauvar, we shall never meet again.--Remember my last
words.--Beggars, thieves, assassins may escape perdition; but neither
here, nor hereafter, is there any hope for Judas.
[_Exit, supporting_ DIANE.
[NANETTE _follows the_ DUKE _off_. POTIN _goes into the opposite
cell_. GOUROC _crosses to_ PAUL.
GOUROC.
How's this, old Comrade? I thought you were antique in the mastery of
your emotions.--A man of iron--firm as flint!
PAUL.
Agony is fire that melts the mettle of the hardest man.
GOUROC.
But why should you--a Jacobin--care for this old Duke?
PAUL.
I loved his daughter--she became my wife.
GOUROC.
[_Starting_.]
What! Diane de Beaumont is your wife?
PAUL.
Yes--has been my wife in secret--for six months.
GOUROC.
[_Aside_.]
So I have a double task! To save her--and kill her husband.
[_Aloud_.]
The same old story, Comrade, and as usual a woman mars the plot! You
were a patriot, till love enmeshed you in his magic web; then you
became the weakest of mankind--a husband. I am sorry, very sorry; but
Paul--my friend--if I can serve you now, I beg of you command me.
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