"Thou art another of a fond and weak sex, to swell the list of confiding
spirits that have been betrayed by the selfishness and falsehood of men,"
answered the mocking mariner. "Go to, girl!--make thyself a nun; thy
Sigismund is an impostor."
Adelheid, by a quick but decided interposition of her hand, prevented an
impetuous movement of the young soldier, who would have struck his
audacious rival to his feet. Without changing her kneeling attitude, she
then spoke, modestly but with a firmness which generous sentiments enable
women to assume even more readily than the stronger sex, when
extraordinary occasions call for the sacrifice of that reserve in which
her feebleness is ordinarily intrenched.
"I know not, Maso, in what manner thou hast learned the tie which connects
me with Sigismund," she said; "but I have no longer any wish to conceal
it. Be he the son of Balthazar, or be he the son of a prince, he has
received my troth with the consent of my honored father, and our fortunes
will shortly be one. There might be forwardness in a maiden thus openly
avowing her preference for a youth; but here, with none to own him,
oppressed with his long-endured wrongs, and assailed in his most sacred
affections, Sigismund has a right to my voice.
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