"And what then?"
"She refused him. Oh, Pan Adam, she loves no man but Pan Yosef, she wants to belong to him only. My dear, honest Lula!"
Silence lasted a moment.
Pan Adam's voice quivered when he pronounced the following words deliberately,—
"She will not belong to him."
"Pan Adam!"
"Yosef, according to promise, is going to marry."
This news struck both young ladies like a thunderbolt. For a moment there was deep silence. All at once the door of the adjoining chamber opened. Lula entered the drawing-room.
On her face a blush of offended womanly dignity was playing, in her eyes pride was gleaming. It seemed to her that everything which she held sacred in her heart had been trampled.
"Malinka," cried she, "ask no more, I implore thee! Enough, enough! This gentleman has delivered his message. Why lower one's self by an answer?"
And taking Malinka by the hand, she led her out of the chamber almost with violence.
