Sir Thorn shook his head with a sardonic smile, and said,—
“But he did not hesitate. It is ten months now since he left you; and no one knows for how many more months, for how many years, he will be absent. For his sake you suffer martyrdom; and, when he returns, he may have long since forgotten you.”
Her eyes beaming with faith, Henrietta rose to her full height, and replied,—
“I believe in Daniel as surely as in myself.”
“And if they convinced you that you were mistaken?”
“They would render me a very sad service, which would bring no reward to any one.”
Sir Thorn’s lips moved, as if he were about to answer. A thought seemed to stop him. Then in a stifled voice, with a gesture of despair, he added,—
“Keep your illusions, madam; and farewell.”
He was going to leave the room; but she threw herself in his way, crossed her arms, and said to him in an imperative tone,—
“You have gone too far, sir, to retrace your steps. You are bound now to justify your insidious insinuations, or, to confess that they were false.”