"We had better separate," he muttered in a broken voice.

"Separate? Very well, but only if you give me a fortune," said Helene.

" Separate! That's a thing to frighten me with!" Pierre leaped up from the sofa and rushed staggering toward her.

"I'll kill you!" he shouted, and seizing the marble top of a table with a strength he had never before felt, he made a step toward her brandishing the slab.

Helene's face became terrible, she shrieked and sprang aside.