"Have you determined?" said he, at last, putting down his book crossing his legs, and leaning his elbows on the table.
"I have nothing to determine on, being under the power of violence and injustice; I have only to submit."
"Do you charge me with violence and injustice?"
"If not yourself, it is the absolute power you exercise, which corrupts your soul, and leads your justice astray."
"Very well. Then you establish yourself as a judge of my conduct, and forget you have but a few moments left to save yourself from death."
"You have no right to take my life, for I am not your subject. If you violate the law of nations, so much the worse for you. For my own part, I had rather die than live one day longer under your laws."
"You confess your hatred frankly," said the king, who appeared to penetrate Consuelo's design, and who was about to foil it by putting on an air of _sang-froid_ and contempt. "I see that you have been to a good school, and the _rôle_ of Spartan virgin, which you play so well, is a great evidence against your accomplices. It reveals their conduct more completely than you think. You are not acquainted with the law of nations and of men. Any sovereign can destroy all in his states who conspire against him."
"I a conspirator!" said Consuelo, carried away by the feeling of conscious truth, and too indignant to vindicate herself. She shrugged her shoulders, turned her back on the king, and without knowing what she was doing, seemed about to go away.
"Where are you going?" said the king, struck by her air of candor.
"To the prison!--to the scaffold!--to any place you please!--provided you do not make me listen to this absurd accusation!"
"You are very angry," said the king, with a sardonic laugh. "Do you wish to know why? You come here with the intention of playing the Roman before me, and your comedy has been cut down into a mere interlude. Nothing is so mortifying, especially to an actress, as not to be able to play her part effectively."
Consuelo, scorning to reply, folded her arms and looked so fixedly at the king that he was disconcerted. To stifle the rage which burned within him, he was forced to break silence, and resume his bitter mockery, hoping that in this way he would irritate the accused, and that to defend herself she would lose her reserve and distrust.