"But this is most unaccountable!" cried Bernard, beginning to walk up and down the room. "This is most unaccountable," he repeated. "Why, she told me----" he broke off, beginning again, "Where is she? I must see her--must hear from her own lips the reason of this change."
"You cannot see her, Bernard," said his mother, in slow, icy tones. "You cannot see her. She is not in this house----"
"Not in this house? Not here? What do you mean?"
"She has gone away."
"But where? Where has she gone?"
"I do not know."
"But has she left no message for me?" he asked, with exceeding anxiousness.
"She left the message I have given you," answered his mother. "Tell Bernard," she said, "that I will never, never marry him!"
"That message I refuse to receive!" cried Bernard. "Poor Doris was in such trouble she did not know what she was saying--I am sure she did not mean that."
"I suppose you think I am telling you a lie?" began his mother hotly.