"No, no, no," sobbed the unhappy girl.
"Yes, Blanche. It is a hard alternative, but it is the best. You ought to rejoice in his injustice, because it displays him in his true colours. He tells you what you have to expect."
"I love him."
"Alas! I know it; but you see how he repays your love."
She only sobbed in answer.
"He will make you miserable for ever. Now, before the irrevocable step is taken, release yourself from such a fate: return with me."
She wept, but could not speak.
Heath's arguments at last prevailed; and, in a tone of terrible despair, she exclaimed, "Take me home, then."
A flash of joy passed over his sad face as he heard this heart-broken phrase, which assured him that, however his beloved Blanche might suffer at first, she was at least saved from the certain misery of becoming the wife of Cecil Chamberlayne.
On reaching the hotel, Cecil ran rapidly up stairs, and on the first landing stood aghast, at seeing Blanche coming down, leaning on the captain's arm. She was weeping, and her face was hidden by the handkerchief with which she wiped her eyes.