"Hush!" she cries, in a tone of mingled pain and dread—"hush!"
There was something so positive, so prohibitory in her voice and gesture, that my heart contracted, and a sudden chill of despondency ran through me. But I could not be silent now. It was impossible for me to hold my peace, even at her bidding.
"Why do you say hush?" I asked, peremptorily. "I love you, Olivia. Is there any reason why I should not love you?"
"Yes," she said, very slowly and with quivering lips. "I was married four years ago, and my husband is living still!"
CHAPTER THE THIRTIETH.
A GLOOMY ENDING.
Olivia's answer struck me like an electric shock. For some moments I was simply stunned, and knew neither what she had said, nor where we were.
I suppose half a minute had elapsed before I fairly received the meaning of her words into my bewildered brain. It seemed as if they were thundering in my ears, though she had uttered them in a low, frightened voice. I scarcely understood them when I looked up and saw her leaning against the rock, with her hands covering her face.