"My God!" muttered Olivia, trembling violently.
"Hush!" I whispered; "now we shall hear the truth."
"I have changed my mind," retorted Felix, in answer to the last remark of Rose.
"That may be, but I have not, Mr. Felix Briarfield. I fulfilled my promise and went down with Strent to that lonely inn. Your brother came, and you know that he never left it again. I have fulfilled my promise. I now require you to fulfill yours and make me your wife."
"I cannot! I cannot!" he said in a faint voice, wiping his brow. "For Heaven's sake take this money I offer you and leave me."
"I have mixed myself up with crime for your sake, and you offer to put me off with money. It is useless! Your promise I have, and that promise I require you to keep, or else----"
"Or else----"
"I'll tell the truth to the police."
"And thus involve yourself in ruin with me."
"I don't care," she said sullenly; "anything would be better than the torture I am enduring at your hands."