"You are not to tell her that you love me. I release you, Hugh. You were hers first; you are hers now. I would kill myself rather than lake you from her. Go to her--go to her at once. You must!" She was nervous, half-crazed, yet true nobility shone above all like a gem of purest ray.
"Don't force me to go, Tennys," he pleaded, as she left him to go to her room.
"Go now, Hugh--go if you love me," she said, turning her miserable face from him.
"But what is to become of you--of me?" he protested.
"We must think only of her. Go! and bring her to see me here! I want to tell her how happy I am that she has found you again;" and then she was gone.
The dominant impulse was to rush after her, grasp her and carry her back to the waves from which he had unwittingly saved her. Then the strong influence that she had exerted over him, together with the spark of fair-mindedness that remained, forced him to obey the dictates of honor. He slowly, determinedly, dejectedly re-entered the carriage and started toward the end.
CHAPTER XXXIV
THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE
Ridgeway had been directed to the home of Mr. Henry Coleman. He was never able to describe his emotions as he drove through the streets toward that most important place in all the world at that hour. The cab drew up in front of the rather pretentious home and he stepped forth, dazed and uncertain, his knees stiff, his eyes set. Had some one shouted "Run!" he would have fled with his resolution.