"For liking such horrid sport?"
"We have no time to waste in coquetry."
Her eyes melted, but she could not resist planting a dart. "Not now—I quite understand: love could never be first with you. And two years are not so long. They quickly pass when one is busy. I shall find occupation, and you will have no time for longings and regrets."
They were not yet alone, women were talking in their light, high voices not a yard away. The hindrance, and her new loveliness in the soft mantilla, the pink of the roses reflected in her throat, the provocative curl of her mouth, sent the blood to his head.
"You have only to say the word," he said hoarsely, "and the Juno will sail to-night."
Never before had she seen his face so unmasked. Her voice shook in triumph and response.
"Would you? Would you?"
"Say the word!"
"You would sacrifice all—the Company—your career—your Sitkans?"
"All—everything." His own voice shook with more than passion, for even in that moment he counted the cost, but he did not care.