“Look here, Irene.”
“Will you let me go?”
“Irene—is your resolution irrevocable?”
“Will you let me go.”
“Tell me only whether this resolution, this mad resolution of yours, which you will bitterly regret, is irrevocable?”
“Yes—let me go!”
“Then stay. You know well that you are at home here. We shall go away to-morrow morning.”
She rose to her feet in spite of him, and said in a hard tone:
“No. It is too late. I do not want sacrifice; I do not want devotion.”
“Stay! I have done what I ought to do; I have said what I ought to say. I have no further responsibility on your behalf. My conscience is at peace. Tell me what you want me to do, and I will obey.”'