"Since you have shown me that you love me, I will indeed do my best not to hurt you or displease you.

I will do what I can--what I can." She repeated the last words slowly and with unconscious emphasis.

He turned his face to her again instantly.
"Then promise me that you will never see Don John of Austria again, that you will forget that you ever loved him, that you will put him altogether out of your thoughts, and that you will obediently accept the marriage I shall make for you." The words of refusal to any such obedience as that rose to the girl's lips, ready and sharp.

But she would not speak them this time, lest more angry words should answer hers.

She looked straight at her father's eyes, holding her head proudly high for a moment.