"Your husband!" said Serge, bitterly. "He loves you, he will forgive
you."

"I know; but then we two shall be separated for ever. Is that what you
desire?"

"And what can I do?" cried Serge, in despair. "Everything around me is
giving way! Fortune, which has been my one aim in life, is escaping from
me. The family which I have scorned is forsaking me. The friendship which
I have betrayed overwhelms me. There is nothing left to me."

"And my love, my devotion?" exclaimed Jeanne, passionately. "Do you think
that I will leave you? We must go away. I asked you long ago. You
resisted; the moment has now come. Be easy! Madame Desvarennes will pay
and save your name. In exchange you will give her back her daughter. You
don't care about her, because you love me. I am your real wife; she who
ought to share your life. Well, I take back my rights. I pay for them
with my honor. I break all ties which could hold me back. I am yours,
Serge! Our sin and misfortune will bind us more closely than any laws
could."

"Think, that with me you will have to endure poverty, and, perhaps,
misery," said the Prince, moved by the young woman's infatuation.

"My love will make you forget everything!"

"You will not feel regret or remorse?"

"Never, so long as you love me."