"I never thought of this," said Miss Boyle, under her breath. "I do not know if you are serious; but, surely it is needless for me to tell you, my lord, that it is impossible. Everything is impossible between you and me—save farewell."
"Why do you say so?" he demanded. "Have you not been waiting for this moment?"
"To bring—farewell. Yes, I believed you would come for that—to see me once more, to bid good-bye; but—ah, the idyll was broken so long ago." She turned her head away sharply. "We shall care always, shall we not? I—I do not dare express to you what I feel."
"We will not part, Selina!" he cried.
She faced him courageously.
"Nothing can move me, not even your sincerity. I am resolved; and you know in your heart that I am right."
The words held him silent with a shame she took for grief.
"What does it matter," she said, with a soft passion in her voice, "since we——"
"Since we have loved one another," finished my lord, lifting his grey eyes.