"Never!"—she paused. "After what has happened I would never marry my cousin."
"I thought that, miss. You mean it, I am sure; and it eases my mind; because you have been a good mistress to me, and it would always have been a sorry thought that I'd stood in your way. Not that it would have prevented me."
"Do you still stand there and tell me that you will hold this unhappy boy to his word?"
"He's twenty-two, miss; my own age. Yes, I shall hold him to it."
"To save yourself!"
"No, miss."
"For his own sake, then?" Miss Bracy's laugh was passing bitter.
"No, miss—though there might be something in that."
"For whose then?"
The girl did not answer. But in the silence her mistress understood, and moved to the door. She was beaten, and she knew it; beaten and unforgiving, In the doorway she turned.