He looked at her fondly, took her hand, and drew her to the table; and, in after years, she recalled this occasion with mournful pleasure as the last on which he had ever given her his pet name.
CHAPTER XVIII
A REFUSAL
"Come out on the colonnade; the air is delicious." As he spoke, Hugh drew his cousin's arm through his, and led the way from the tea-table.
"Irene, how long do you intend to keep me in painful suspense?"
"I am not aware that I have in any degree kept you in suspense."
"You shall not evade me; I have been patient, and the time has come when we must talk of our future. Irene, dearest, be generous, and tell me when will you give me, irrevocably, this hand which has been promised to me from your infancy?"
He took the hand and carried it to his lips, but she forcibly withdrew it, and, disengaging her arm, said emphatically—