«Let the will of God be done,» said she at last; «since you will resign me, then go your way. God will remain with the orphan.»
«I resign you?» asked Kmita, with supreme astonishment.
«That is it!--if not in words, then in deeds; if not you me, then I you. For I will not marry a man weighted by the tears and blood of people, whom men point at with their fingers, whom they call an outlaw, a robber, and whom they consider a traitor.»
«What, traitor! Do not bring me to madness, lest I do something for which I should be sorry hereafter. May the thunderbolts strike me this minute, may the devils flay me, if I am a traitor,--I, who stood by the country when all hands had dropped!»
«You stand by the country and act like an enemy, for you trample on it. You are an executioner of the people, re
