Again she gave him a quick look of startled surprise, and said hastily,
"You forget yourself, sir. Such language belongs to another."
"To another?"
"Yes; to Miss Marchmont."
"Miss Marchmont can claim nothing from me, save a slight cousinly regard."
"It is reported that you are engaged."
"It's false," he said passionately. "It is true, that before you returned, and while I was reckless because I believed you despised me, I trifled away more time there than I should. But Miss Marchmont, in reality, is as indifferent towards me as I towards her. I am not bound to her by even a gossamer thread."
Alice turned away her face, and was speechless.
"And did you think," he asked reproachfully, "that I could love her after knowing you?"
"Love is blind," she faltered after a moment, "and is often guilty of strange freaks. It does not weigh and estimate."
"But my love for you is all that there is good in me. My love is the most rational thing of my life."