"I will not!" she panted, like some wild animal driven to bay.
"I will not."
His face darkened.
"You hate me so much?"
She was silent, regarding him with the same fearful, hunted look.
"You hate me!" he said, between his teeth. "But even that shall not prevent me from having my way. You will learn to hate me less—in time to love me."
She shuddered, and he saw the shudder, and it seemed to lash him into madness.
"I say you shall! Such love as mine cannot exist in vain, cannot be repelled; it must, it must win love in return. I will chance it. When you are my wife—do not shrink, mine you must and shall be!—you will grow to a knowledge of the strength of my devotion, and admit that I was justified——"
"No, never!" she panted.
He drew back, and let his hand fall on the back of the chair.