"I shall ask him. Have you anything more to say?"
"No; that will do for the present. Only," said Van Zwieten, menacingly, "I give you one last warning. If you marry Captain Burton, he is lost, your father is lost, and you will be a wretched woman all the rest of your days."
Up to the present Brenda had controlled her feelings very well. Now the feminine desire to speak her mind got the upper hand, and she rose to defy the Dutchman.
"You speak very boldly and confidently," she said; "but you do not speak plainly. You hint at my father's guilt, at some link connecting Captain Burton with this crime. I don't believe you have the knowledge you say you possess. I am not to be terrified by vain threats, Mr. van Zwieten--you are not dealing with a child."
"When the time comes I shall speak out," replied the man, sullenly.
"Speak out now--if you can--if you dare!"
"No. I will do nothing in a hurry. But ask your father--ask Captain Burton--what they did on the night of the murder."
"You villain! I believe you killed the man yourself."
"Oh, certainly," mocked Van Zwieten, "if it pleases you to think so." He took a turn up and down the room, then approached her with a grave smile.
"Miss Scarse," said he, entreatingly, "this is not the wooing I care for. I love you, and I will have you to be my wife, but it is not my desire to gain you by force. Why cannot you accept me? I am a richer man than Captain Burton, and I will make you a better husband. Come with me to the Transvaal, and you know not what height I may raise you to. There will be war--I am certain there will be war. Afterward----"