Fletcher. [Tentatively.] Yes ... yes, I do deny it.
Marion. [Quickly.] This man's past, sir, is not yours, nor mine. But his present does belong to me, and his future shall be mine too, to make, not hers to mar.
Fletcher. [Impatient.] Come! We've lost enough time, let's finish this. [Clergyman goes to his proper place behind the chancel rails.
Jeannette. [Coming up one of the chancel steps.] You shall not go on with this marriage.
Fletcher. [Half angry.] She has shown what she is by the way she has chosen to stop it.
Jeannette. That's a cowardly lie! And it was only when I saw by the papers that my letters had been useless that I decided to humiliate myself in this way. Do you think I would so degrade my womanhood for the sake of anything on God's earth, but one ... my child? [To Marion.] Do you think I could do anything but loathe him!... [With a gesture toward Fletcher.
Marion. But I love him.
Jeannette. So did I once. And now I'd save you if I could from all I know you'll have to suffer. Once you're his, he'll tire of you....
Marion. [Interrupting.] You forget one thing ... he is going to place a wedding-ring on my hand.
Jeannette. Well, look at that! [She rips her glove off violently, and shows a wedding-ring.] He placed it there! and said he'd take me to a church and make our compact binding.