He spoke in a tone so firm and decided that she was driven almost to despair.
"Obstinate, obstinate!" she murmured: "hard and unkind!"
"Margaret--Margaret!" he cried, "do you want to break my heart?"
"No," she replied, with sudden vehemence; the words seemed to come from her without any will of her own; "I want to save it from breaking!"
Terror and doubt were expressed in his face.
"Speak plainly," he said, breathing quickly; "it is about Lucy?"
"It is about her. What is your dearest wish?"
"Her happiness."
"Drive me from her, and I'll not answer for the consequences. O, this is no piece of cunning on my part, so that I may have my own way! It is the truth. Do you not see that she is growing paler and thinner every day?"
"I have seen it--I have tried to believe it was a trick played upon me by my fears; but I see it now that it is as you say. It must be the confinement in this narrow street, in this close town----"