He caught his breath and leaned toward her.
"I love you now as I loved you then. My heart has always belonged to you. If you doubt it, you wrong me."
"Then, Mr. Noel, do not leave me. If you go away now you will break my heart."
He rose and looked down at her, wondering at the desperate appeal in her eyes.
"I do not understand, because I long ago ceased to hope I could ever be essential to your happiness. I am obliged to leave here to-night; but if there is any service I can render before I sail from Sydney, on the 15th, I am sure you know how very gladly I should help you. If, as you say, you wish to turn to me, I beg that you will do so at once. Why are you miserable?"
She covered her face with her hands.
"If you love me, will you abandon this expedition for my sake?"
"I cannot now, it is too late. My word is pledged by cable, and the vessel is on the Atlantic. Eglah, I dare not hope that you have learned to care; I will not delude myself. Don't torture me by vague suggestions that half madden me."
He sat down beside her, painfully perplexed.
Her hands fell into her lap, clutched each other, and when she spoke it was in a shuddering, broken whisper.