“‘These duties could not fill your heart, Elfrida. You would languish into melancholia or death. Listen, Elfrida—dearest Elfrida! You talked of that wild seacoast manor house as a haven of rest. It would not be so. It would be to you as a desert, a prison, an exile. See, Elfrida! Here is your true haven of rest!’ he said, bending toward me with a look that sent all the blood rushing to my head and face.
“‘What do you mean? Where?’ I cried, in alarm, though I did not understand his meaning.
“‘Here!’ he exclaimed, striking his breast and then extending both hands toward me—‘Here! in my love!—in my arms!—in my bosom! Oh, Elfrida! accept the life’s devotion of one who adores you, and who will gladly consecrate all his days to your happiness!’
“I could no longer misunderstand him; nor could I speak for amazement and indignation. He took advantage of my silence to pour out the malebolge of his revolting passion before me.
“At last, with a great effort, I conquered the speechless panic into which his insults had thrown me, and my wrath and shame burst forth in strong and fiery words.
“I ordered him from my presence; but he did not go. I called him hard names—a snake in the grass—a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a traitor, a hypocrite.
“He did not reply; he stood up before me and took it all, devouring me with his eyes, while his tongue was silent.
“At length, my paroxysm of violence broke down in tears, and I wept in bitter anguish.
“‘Although I am forsaken, yet still I am a wife!’ I said; ‘though my husband has left me, yet still he is my husband.’
“These words gave him the opportunity he now wanted.