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was already on her.
"She uttered the faintest of cries, but he had already clasped her in his arms.
"'Leave me! leave me! or I'll call for help.'
"'Call as much as you like, darling; but no one can or will come to your help before I have had you, for I swear by the Virgin Mary that I'll not leave this room before I've enjoyed you. If that bougre can use you for his pleasure, so shall I. If he has not—well, after all it is better to be a poor man's wife than a rich man's whore; and you know whether I have been wanting to marry you or not.'
"Saying these words, holding her with one hand clasped as in a vice, her back against him, he tried with the other to twist her head round so as to get to her lips; but, seeing that he could not, he pressed her down on the bed. Holding her by the nape of the neck, he thrust his other hand between her legs and gripped her middle part in his brawny palm.
"Being ready before-hand, thrusting himself between her parted legs, he began to press his
