I say I wonder now: then I only thought of
braving it out.
"Straight as a dart, but with that look on her face, she came towards
us. 'Did I hear aright?' were the words that came from her lips.
'Have you married me, a woman beneath your station as I now perceive,
because you were commanded to do so? Have you not loved me? given me
that which alone makes marriage a sacrament or even a possibility?
and must you leave this house made sacred by the recumbent form of
your dying father if I remain within it?'
"I saw my father's stiff and pallid lips move silently as though he
would answer for me if he could, and summoning up what courage I
possessed, I told her that I deeply regretted she had overheard my
inconsiderate words. That I had never meant to wound her, whatever
bitterness lay in my heart towards one who had thwarted me in my
dearest and most cherished hopes. That I humbly begged her pardon and
would so far acknowledge her claim upon me as to promise that I would
not leave my home at this time, if it distressed her; my desire being
not to injure her, only to protect myself.
"O the scorn that mounted to her brow at these weak words. Not scorn
of me, thank God, worthy as I was of it that hour, but scorn of my
slight opinion of her.
"'Then I heard aright,' she murmured, and waited with a look that
would not be gainsaid.
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