She shook her head.
“You are the best and the kindest people I’ve ever met,” she said tremulously. “But I want to go back.”
He looked at her keenly.
“You have something on your mind,” said he.
Rhoda rose suddenly to her feet. Looking down upon him with eyes that blazed, she said hoarsely:
“Yes. I want to warn you. Find out, Sir Robert, whether you are loved as you deserve to be loved. That’s all.”
The baronet rose, frowning and displeased. She saw that he looked upon her words as an impertinence, and she was cut to the heart.
Faltering, she stammered out an incoherent apology. Sir Robert looked at her coldly.
“There is nothing to apologise for,” he said gravely. “I’m sure you mean well. I was taken by surprise, that’s all.”
Rhoda felt that the room was spinning round her. She knew his danger, and she saw that she was helpless to save him. There was only one thing to be done; she must go away. She could not stay another day now that she had offended him, nor could she watch the progress of the harm she could not prevent.