"Go, then," he said, "and the misery of those dear to you be upon your hands, for you will have dealt it, not I! Go! But mark me, before you have reached the man who has ensnared you that shame will have fallen; a shame so bitter that it will yawn like a gulf between you and him; a gulf which no time can ever bridge over."
"It—it is a lie!" she breathed, her eyes fixed upon his white face, but she paused and did not go.
He inclined his head.
"No," he said, "it is true, an awful, shameful truth. You will wait and listen?"
She looked at him for a moment in silence.
"I will wait five minutes—just five minutes," she said, and she pointed to the clock. "And I warn you—it is I who warn you now—that by no word will I attempt to screen you from the punishment which will meet this lie."
"I am content," he said, and there was something in the cold tone of assured triumph that struck to her heart.
[CHAPTER XXIX.]
"Five minutes!" said Stella, warningly; and she turned her face from him, and kept her eyes fixed on the clock.