'Why this affectation?' asked her father with displeasure.
'You afflict your daughter,' said Arwed, and then turning to Christine, 'calm yourself, cousin! this storm has not been raised by me. Bound or free, I will never permit your heart to be constrained.'
'Nothing is more intolerable,' angrily interposed the governor, 'than a young knight's feigning a coldness towards the other sex which is foreign to his heart. However strong have been, or may now be, your feelings for Georgina, yet it has not escaped a father's eye that my daughter is not an object of indifference to you. The glances which you now and then cast upon her when you think yourself unobserved, the warm interest which you take in her conversation, even the reproofs you often give her, have but the more clearly proved the state of your feelings.'
Arwed cast his eyes bashfully down.
'And, not to mention many other indications,' continued the old man, addressing himself to Christine, 'what impelled you to mount your horse so quickly when Megret brought us the news of Arwed's danger? When a maiden breaks through all obstacles to fight for a young man, one may confidently swear she has an attachment for him.'
'Oh, my father!' cried Christine in the deepest affliction, hiding her face in his bosom.
'Then give him the hand which would have fought for him,' commanded the father, moving to lead his daughter to Arwed's arms. She tore herself from him. 'I cannot! by heaven, I cannot!' shrieked the despairing girl.
'You cannot?' asked the governor, angrily. 'And that you are in earnest, is confirmed by your looks. Now, then, my daughter, give your father a reason why you cannot obey his will, which was never swayed by warmer affection than at this moment. I may bear the contradiction if it be supported upon reasonable grounds, but I am not disposed to become the plaything of your caprice and obstinacy. Therefore answer, what have you against this union?'
Christine remained silently sobbing and wringing her hands.
'This silence answers me more clearly than you may wish,' said the governor with grave significancy. 'It is an acknowledgment that you are ashamed of the cause of your refusal, and clearly explains many things which have hitherto appeared dark to me. These tears confess your conviction that your foolish wishes can never be realized, and save me the trouble of proving it to you. I spare you the reproaches your conduct merits. Let the past be buried in oblivion. Render yourself worthy of this kindness by obedience. Give your hand to Arwed, my daughter.'