Forbes shook his head. “Your presence here, single, must cause strife,” he began, “and——”
“Then let me go away. Let me wander away by myself. You nor your men shall ever see me again. I will lose myself in the wreckage, and——”
“You are salvage, and I cannot surrender you.”
“Think! Think! My father is rich—a multimillionaire. In his name I promise you a million dollars if you will spare me and get me back to him. Think! A million dollars.”
“Even if I would, it is impossible. We are all alike helpless here.”
“You will not spare me?”
“I love you too much to do so.”
With a quick movement Dorothy pushed by him and faced the others. “Men,” she cried, “will you let this thing be done? Will you let me be forced into marriage with a man I loathe. For God’s sake have pity on me, and say to this man that he shall not do this thing.”
The men shifted uneasily in their seats, but no one spoke. Dorothy’s eyes flashed.
“Cowards!” she cried. “Is there not one of you who dares face this man. Come! I offer you a bargain. If any man will save me, to him will I give myself in all wifely humility. Any man! Any man! Speak! What! Does no one speak? Am I so poor a prize?”