“Yes. He says he risks everything—that it is only for me.”
“And you don’t love him?”
“Oh, no, no, no!”
The girl shivered as she spoke. There was a little pause, then Phillis said—
“How long has he been asking you to do this?”
“I don’t know,” Bice said, letting her hands drop wearily. “Ever since he brought us the bad news of Clive, I suppose. But it is in the last few days that he has said the most, and every day it seems to grow worse and worse. To-night I must tell him.”
Phillis took her hands in hers and looked into her face.
“You must tell him you will not marry him,” she said quietly.
The girl’s face flushed with sudden joy, then the colour faded quite away.
“Ah! you don’t know,” she said, shaking her head. “So much I do know. Nothing that you can tell me can make wrong right. But perhaps you will let me hear more.”