“And I must tell him so, and then—”
“And then you will ask him if he would be content to live all his life without love, knowing that he will never, never win your heart, because it would be impossible.”
“But I have given him my promise, Ellice.”
“I know, I know; and you will not break it, because you could not break a promise. But you will tell him this, and offer him his freedom; it will be for him to decide.”
Joan stood for many moments in silence, her hand still resting on the girl’s shoulder. Then she drew Ellice to her; she thrust back the shining hair, and kissed the girl’s forehead. “I think—yes, I think I shall do all this, Ellice,” she said.
CHAPTER XLIV
POISON
“Johnny! Johnny! Have you gone to sleep, dear? There is someone here to see you.”
“Eh?” Johnny started into wakefulness, he huddled his untidy papers together. “I must have been dozing off. I was thinking. Con, is Gipsy back yet?”
“Not yet, and I am getting a little anxious about her; it is almost dusk. But there is someone here asking for you.”