"You throw the love I have offered you back in my face, Sir Edgar?"
"No, dear; I lay it kindly and gratefully in your hands, to make the joy and happiness of some good man's life."
"You distinctly tell me that you never did—never could love me?"
"I love you as my cousin, Coralie—not in any other way."
"You would never, never, under any circumstances, make me your wife?"
"Why do you pain me so, Coralie?"
"I want a plain answer—you would never marry me? Say 'yes' or 'no.'"
"No—since you force me into ungracious speech."
"Thank you," she said, bitterly; "I am answered—there can be no mistake. Sir Edgar, you speak your mind with honorable frankness. I have given you every chance to correct yourself, should you be mistaken. I am, perhaps, more richly endowed than you think for. Would my dowry make any difference?"
"No," I replied, sternly; "and, Coralie, pray pardon me; it is high time that this should end."