"I am no hero that I can suffer thus," he said; "I will do your bidding, Dom Antonio, and may God forgive me the sin! For you, Pierre and Juanna, I am about to make you man and wife, to join you in a sacrament that is none the less holy and indissoluble because of the dreadful circumstances under which it is celebrated.

I say to you, Pierre, abandon your wickedness, and love and cherish this woman, lest a curse from heaven fall upon you.

I say to you, Juanna, put your trust in God, the God of the fatherless and oppressed, who will avenge your wrongs--and forgive me.

Let water be brought, that I may consecrate it--water and a ring." "Here, take this one," said Pereira, lifting Leonard's signet ring from the pile of gold.

"I give it back for a luck-penny." And he tossed the ring to the priest.
Water was brought in a basin, and the father consecrated it.
Then he bade Leonard stand by the girl and motioned to the crowd to fall back from them.