She sat down as he bade her, feeling inclined to cry, he reminded her so much of Marmaduke.
He would not spare her any details; it seemed an amusement to him to hear of her doubts, her scruples, and he laughed aloud when she told him how two years ago she had dismissed her lover.
"Why?" he sneered. "Come, out with it!"
His hard clear eyes peered into hers.
"Because I didn't want to injure him, and I don't want to injure him now," she replied. "I haven't come to claim my rights as his wife."
"Then what the devil do you want, my lady?"
"I want you to do as you did before and give him the money to buy his colonelcy. If you will do this I will never claim to be his wife. He shall be as free, as far as I am concerned, to marry whom you choose."
Lord Drummuir sat looking at her with hard clear eyes.
"And if I don't," he said at last, "are you going to threaten me with this bogus marriage, for it may be bogus for all I know--eh, what?"
Marrion felt that the supreme moment had come; she must stake her all.