“God help me, I will marry her and let the worst come upon us!”
“You shall not do her this injustice if I can help it.”
“You cannot help it.”
“I will tell her that she is the daughter of Carton Standish; and then, if she chooses to marry you, she will do so with her eyes open.”
She went to the door.
“No—no; not that—not that,” he cried.
She opened the door and called the girl's name. He threw himself once more down on a chair and bowed his head.
The answering voice of Clare was heard, and then the sound of her feet on the oak floor of the passage.
“You will come here for a few moments, Clare,” said Agnes, and the girl entered the room.
He kept his face bowed down almost to his knees, as he cried: