“Will you say what you have to say, please, and go. I am tired, and I want to be alone.”
He came and stood on the hearthrug close to her.
“Anna,” he said, “you make it all indescribably hard for me. Will you not remember what has passed between us? I have the right to take my place by your side.”
“You have no right at all,” she answered. “Further than that, I am amazed that you should dare to allude to those few moments, to that single moment of folly. If ever I could bring myself to ask you any favour, I would ask you to forget even as I have forgotten.”
“Why in Heaven’s name should I forget?” he cried. “I love you, Anna, and I want you for my wife. There is nothing but your pride which stands between us.”
“There is great deal more,” she answered coldly. “For one thing I am going to marry David Courtlaw.”
He stepped back as though he had received a blow.
“It is not possible,” he exclaimed.
“Why not?”
“Because you are mine. You have told me that you cared. Oh, you cannot escape from it. Anna, my love, you cannot have forgotten so soon.”