“I don’t love you a bit.... Not a tiny bit....”
She saw him whiten. It was thrilling to see how he kept his emotion under control. She almost admired him in that moment.
“Is that so?” he said heavily.
“Yes.”
He bit his lip fiercely.
“Then our engagement, I presume, is—is dissolved?”
“Presumably.... Here’s your ring.”
Here occurred a touch of bathos. She tried to get the ring off her finger, but it would not pass the first joint.
“Let me try,” he said humbly, and the episode became almost farcical. It came off after a little coaxing. But the dramatic possibilities of the incident had been ruined.
“Well,” he said stiffly, “I suppose that’s all. It’s your doing, not mine. You’re breaking up our prospects without the least shadow of reason.”