He snatched her into his arms with a sudden roughness, kissing her passionately.
"You'd drive a man to madness!" he exclaimed thickly. "But I shan't let you escape a second time," he went on with a quiet intensity of purpose. "You'll come back with me now—to-night—to Trenby."
She made a quick gesture of negation.
"No, no, I can't—I couldn't come now!"
His grip of her tightened.
"Now!" he repeated in a voice of steel. "And I'll marry you by special licence within a week. I'll not risk losing you again."
Nan shuddered in his arms. To go straight from that last farewell with Peter into marriage with a man she did not love—it was unthinkable! She shrank from it in every fibre of her being. Some day, perhaps, she could steel herself to make the terrible surrender. But not now, not yet!
"No! No!" she cried strickenly. "I can't marry you! Not so soon!
You must give me time—wait a little! Kitty—"
She struggled to break from him, but he held her fast.
"We needn't wait for Kitty to come back," he said.