"
And having told her story and thus answered his demands, she assumed
once more the position of lofty reserve that seemed to shut him back
from advance like a wall of invincible crystal.
CHAPTER XX
THE BOND THAT UNITES
But he was not to be discouraged. "And after all this, after all you
have suffered for my sake and your own, do you think you have a right
to deny me the one desire of my heart? How can you reconcile it with
your ideas of devotion, Luttra?"
"My ideas of devotion look beyond the present, Mr. Blake. It is to
save you from years of wearing anxiety that I consent to the
infliction upon you of a passing pang."
He took a bold step forward. "Luttra, you do not know a man's heart.
To lose you now would not merely inflict a passing pang, but sow the
seeds of a grief that would go with me to the grave."
"Do you then"--she began, but paused blushing. Mrs. Daniels took the
opportunity to approach her on the other side.
"My dear mistress," said she, "you are wrong to hold out in this
matter." And her manner betrayed something of the peculiar agitation
that had belonged to it in the former times of her secret
embarassment. "I, who have honored the family which I have so long
served, above every other in the land, tell you that you can do it no
greater good than to join it now, or inflict upon it any greater harm
than to wilfully withdraw yourself from the position in which God has
placed you.
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