“That’s not true,” I said. “You have carried her off and are keeping her locked up.”
“Listen,” he said. “Will you promise never to meddle with my affairs again, if I prove to you that I am loved for my own sake?”
“Yes, I promise you,” I replied, without hesitation, for I felt convinced that for such a monster the proof was impossible.
“Well, then, it’s quite simple. … Christine Daaé shall leave this as she pleases and come back again! … Yes, come back again, because she wishes … come back of herself, because she loves me for myself! …”
“Oh, I doubt if she will come back! … But it is your duty to let her go.”
“My duty, you great booby! … It is my wish … my wish to let her go; and she will come back again … for she loves me! … All this will end in a marriage … a marriage at the Madeleine,