“Tell me—I have every right to ask—what you most fear?”
“I fear nothing if you are with me. Let my relatives say and think what they like. I have made great sacrifices for them; to give up you would be too much.”
Yet his distress was evident. It strained the corners of his mouth, wrinkled his forehead.
“The disgrace would be more than you could bear. You would never see your mother and your sisters again.”
“If they are so prejudiced, so unreasonable, I can’t help it. They must—”
He was interrupted by a loud rat-tat at the outer door. Blanched herself, Monica saw that her lover’s face turned to ghastly pallor.
“Who can that be?” he whispered hoarsely. “I expect no one.”
“Need you answer?”
“Can it be—? Have you been followed? Does any one suspect—?”
They stared at each other, still half-paralysed, and stood waiting thus until the knock was repeated impatiently.