It is true that I am well paid; for I am always paid for my life, which is risked in every one of my enterprises.

You, too, are well paid; for a magnificently furnished home with a monthly income of six thousand francs is a liberal compensation.

But my proud, aristocratic Leonore knows little about economy, and she has arranged her housekeeping on so regal a scale that I shall scarcely succeed in putting a trifle aside for her every month.
Besides, consider that the engagement is liable to be cancelled at any moment, and that the least error, the most trivial suspicion of your trustworthiness will suffice to hurl you back into oblivion.

No, Leonore, I must not enter into your ecstasy, and I will not.

You must remain with me; you must fulfill the vow you made and, holding my hand, pursue the path into which despair and contempt for mankind has led us." "And if I will not ?" she asked, sitting erect, and, for the first time during this whole conversation, permitting the passionate agitation of her soul to be mirrored in her face.