The silence grew unbearable.
"Well, what are you doing here?" demanded Roddick.
"Nay, Leo, you mustn't speak to me like that, when I've followed you, mile on mile, across the desolate places. Will you never learn what a true woman's love means?"
Janet winced cruelly. Roddick's eyes blazed as he watched the delicate girl shrink from this evil hag who was yet his wife.
"How often must I tell you to stay where you are bidden?" The effort to keep his hands off was trying him sorely.
"I can't obey when I'm drunk, Leo—I can't. I go wild for you, I—— Who's the white girl standing there?"
"Janet, go, I tell you! Go!"
She shook off the numbness that held her.
"I can't, I won't, leave you! Leo, are not your battles mine? How can I leave you to face—that?"