She wished intensely that she could give him the answer he desired. And, beyond that, she felt the urge of Virginia’s trust in her. Here was her chance. At a word from her he was willing to renounce the one thing for which he craved—the thing that had wrecked his father’s life, and which might some day wreck his own. Ought she to say that word—promise to marry him, even though she had no love to give him? Her mind seemed to be going round and round in a maze of uncertainty and doubt.
And then suddenly the remembrance of what Lady Susan had said rushed over her: “A woman may throw her whole life’s happiness into the scales, and still fail to turn the balance. Without love—the love that can forgive seventy times seven, and then not be tired—she’ll certainly fail.”
The words steadied her. “Without love—” and she had no love to give Tony. Not the love that a woman should bring to the man she will call husband. Out of the turmoil of her mind this one thought emerged clear and irrefutable. And in that moment, for good or ill, her decision was taken.
“Tony.” She spoke very gently, sore at heart for the pain she knew she must inflict. “I must say no, dear. If I loved you, I’d say yes very gladly. But I don’t love you—not like that.”
“And you won’t marry me?”
“No, I can’t marry you.”
“Then that’s finished.” He spoke brusquely. “I shan’t ask you again, so you needn’t worry. Come along, we’ll get back to the hotel. If we’re going to watch the sunrise to-morrow, we’d better turn in early. And this air makes one confoundedly sleepy. I believe I could sleep the clock round.”
His abrupt return to the commonplace left her feeling confused and disconcerted. It almost seemed as though she must have dreamed the brief conversation which had just taken place. It was incredible that a man could ask you to marry him, promise to forswear a deadly vice that was born in his blood, and then—almost in the same breath, as it were—casually vouchsafe the information that he “could sleep the clock round”!
He had linked his arm in hers again, and was piloting her skilfully down the uneven pathway. She stole a glance at his face. But she could learn nothing whatever from his expression. Apparently he was solely concerned with the matter of conducting her back to the hotel in safety.
They parted in the hall at the foot of the stairs.