“God be thanked for that, at worst!” exclaimed Marguerite, fervently. “Anything—anything but the death to live, of absence from you, Philip! Oh, why did you use that murderous word?”
“You left me no other alternative than to repudiate——”
“Ah!” cried Marguerite, as if again the word had pierced her heart.
“Or—I was about to say—restrain you. I cannot repudiate—I must restrain you. You, yourself, must see the propriety of the measure.”
“But, Philip, my husband, do you mean to say that I may not even visit Mrs. Houston?”
“I mean to say that until you satisfactorily explain your late escapade, you shall not leave the island for any purpose whatever.”
“Not even to visit Nellie?”
“Not even to visit Mrs. Houston.”
“Philip, she will expect me; she will come and invite me to her house; what shall I say to my bosom friend in explanation? or, keeping silence, what shall I leave her to think?”
“Say what you please to Mrs. Houston; tell her the truth, or decline to explain the motives of your seclusion to her—even as you have refused to exhibit the purpose of your journeys to me. You can do these things, Mrs. Helmstedt.”