"Is there any one who would have much difficulty in doing that?" he asked with a quietness that cost him a determined effort.
"Yes," murmured Alison, with suddenly lowered eyes; "there is at least one person who would feel it dreadfully."
He gazed at her, straining to cling to the resolution that had almost deserted him, though his face was firmly set.
"It is quite true," she added, with flaming cheeks. "I must say it. I mean myself."
He drew back a pace and stood very still, as though afraid to trust himself.
"Don't make it all unbearable!" he cried at length. "There's only one course open to me. It's hard enough already."
Alison faced him with a new steadiness.
"Oh," she exclaimed, "you can only look at it from your point of view—can't you understand yet that there is another? If you had meant to go away you should have gone—some time ago."
Thorne closed his hands firmly.
"I'm afraid you are right; but I believed that I might make a success of this farming venture."