'Surely, Annabelle,' said he, slowly, as if to gain time to think, 'you, with your superior grace and beauty, assured position, and the indefinable charm you possess for all, and more than all for me, need fear no woman?'
'Jealousy is stronger than fear, and I am humiliated enough to be jealous. You have secret meetings with a woman to me unknown!' she exclaimed in a low, bitter and concentrated voice.
He grew still paler.
'You cannot deny it?' she added, imperiously.
'I do not—deny it,' he replied, sadly.
'On your honour, and ere all is over between us for ever, tell me who she is, though certainly it should matter little to me now.'
He paused, and, with a deep frown, began:
'If you are acting on information given by Mr. Hew Montgomerie——'
'I am not—I act on information gained by myself, and even thrust upon me; and here ends all between us,' she added, tearing off her engagement-ring, and thrusting it into his hand.
'Annabelle, I implore you to be patient, and reconsider this.'