his  sleeping  ears,  that  you  did  not  command,  implore,
entreat — and  fail !  What  is  it  all  to  me,  whether  you  speak
truth  or  not  ?  Tell  me  it  is  not  true  that  I  would  die  a
thousand  martyrdoms  for  your  sake,  as  you  are,  and  if  you
were  a  thousand  times  worse  than  you  are  !  Your  wrong,
your  right,  your  truth,  your  falsehood,  you  yourself  are


216  THE  WITCH  OF  PRAGUE  CHAP,  xiv

swallowed  up  in  the  love  I  bear  you  !  I  love  you  always,
and  I  will  say  it,  and  say  it  again — ah,  your  eyes  !  I  love
them,  too !  Take  me  into  them,  Unorna — whether  in
hate  or  love — but  in  love — yes — love — Unorna — golden
Unorna  ! '

With  the  cry  on  his  lips — the  name  he  had  given  her  in
other  days — he  made  one  mad  step  forwards,  throwing  out
his  arms  as  though  to  clasp  her  to  him.  But  it  was  too
late.  Even  while  he  had  been  speaking  her  mysterious
influence  had  overpowered  him,  as  he  had  known  that  it
would,  when  she  so  pleased.
She  caught  his  two  hands  in  the  air,  and  pressed  him
back  and  held  him  against  the  tall  slab.  The  whole
pitilessness  of  her  nature  gleamed  like  a  cold  light  in  her
white  face.
