"Me!" cried Orion, and his eyes flashed as wrathfully and vindictively
as her own. "The son of the Mukaukas! Oh, that you were not a woman!
I would force you to your knees and compel you to crave my pardon. How
dare you point your finger at a man whose life has hitherto been as
spotless as your own white raiment? Yes, I did go to the tablinum--I did
tear the emerald from the hanging; but I did it in a fit of recklessness,
and in the knowledge that what is my father's is mine. I threw away the
gem to gratify a mere fancy, a transient whim. Cursed be the hour when
I did it!--Not on account of the deed itself, but of the consequences it
may entail through your mad hatred. Jealousy, petty, unworthy jealousy
is at the bottom of it! And of whom are you jealous?"

"Of no one; not even of your betrothed, Katharina," replied Paula with
forced composure. "What are you to me that, to spare you humiliation,
I should risk the life of the most honest soul living? I have said:
The judges shall decide between you."

"No, they shall not!" stormed Orion. "At least, not as you intend!
Beware, beware, I say, of driving me to extremities! I still see in you
the woman I loved; I still offer you what lies within my power: to let
everything end for the best for you. . . ."

"For me! Then I, too, am to suffer for your guilt?"

"Did you hear the barking of hounds just now?"

"I heard dogs yelping."

"Very well.--Your freedman has been brought in, the pack got on his