He stared at her for a moment in silence; then he said, half defiantly, half sullenly:
"Very well, then. If you know why I am here, you must know that I cannot take such a message, that I cannot go—without her. For Heaven's sake, Miss Lorton, go and fetch her! There is no time to lose. Her—my happiness is at stake. I beg your pardon; I'm afraid I'm brusque; but——For Heaven's sake, bring her! If I could see her, speak to her for a moment——"
Nell shook her head.
"I cannot," she said. "It would be of no use. Lady Wolfer would not go with you."
He came nearer to her and lowered his voice, almost speaking through his teeth.
"See here, Miss Lorton, you—you have no right to be in this business—to interfere with it. You—you are too young to understand——"
"No," she said, almost inaudibly. "I understand. I—I have seen your letter." Her calm, almost her courage, broke down, and, clasping her hands, she pleaded to him. "Oh, yes, I do understand! Sir Archie, go; do, do go! It is cruel of you to stay. If—if you really love her, you will go and never come back."
His face went white and his eyes flashed.
"No, you don't understand, although you think you do. You say that I am cruel. I should be cruel if I did what she asks me, what you wish me to do, to leave her in this house, to the old life of misery. I love her; I want to take her away with me from the man who doesn't care an atom for her, whom she does not love."