"I thank you, dear Mr. Caradoc, but--but--more is impossible."
"Impossible--why?"
She grew quite pale now, but he still retained her hand; and her change of colour was, perhaps, unseen by him, for there was little light in the conservatory, the evening clouds being dark and dense without.
"Miss Lloyd--Winifred--dearest Winifred--I love you, love you with all my heart and soul!"
"Do not say so, I implore you!" said she in an agitated voice, and turning away her head.
"Do you mean to infer that you are already engaged?"
"No."
"Or that you love another?"
"That is not a fair question," she replied, with a little hauteur of manner.
"It is, circumstanced as I am, and after the avowal I have made."