"I will!"
He was silent for a time.
"Now, then!" he said. "It won’t do to keep them all waiting any longer. Are you quite ready?"
"Do you mean for us to get married just the same?"
"Of course!" he said. "I couldn’t be such a prig. I’ve simply got to forget what you’ve told me, and thank Heaven that I’ve got you after all. You might have married the fellow!"
He was his own kind self again, but she could see that his great pride in her, his great joy, were gone.
"Come!" he said again. "We shall be very late."
But she prevented him from leaving. She caught him by the arm and stood before him, looking up into his face.
"Eddie!" she cried, with a gasp that seemed to tear her heart out. "I’ve got to! I can’t deceive you. Oh, God! It’s so awful!"