"Hush, hush!" and as tenderly as a parent would soothe a child he stroked her unbound masses of hair.
"I do not love you," she stammered.
"My poor girl," and he folded her fluttering hands. "You are on the brink of losing your reason. I wish to alarm you. They have written of your strange state of mind. That your conscience is awakened is my keenest delight, yet I would not have you gratify your sacrificial instincts. You have done wrong, very wrong. You have been contemptible, my darling. I also have been contemptible. Our most merciful Father in heaven forgives us. Shall we spurn the joy of acceptance? We truly repent. Let us atone for the past. We are tired of the world,—you and I. Let us live apart from it. I claim you as my wife. You are mine, and I will take you from all former haunts. There is much good in the world as well as evil, but we have shown ourselves weak. Chelda, will you come?"
She collected herself. "I beg that you will go away," she said, rising, and trembling from head to foot.
"Very well," he said, composedly, reaching for his hat, "I do not wish to distress you, but you will not forget what I have said?"
Forget it,—when her eager eyes were devouring him, and her fingers were clasped convulsively to prevent them from seeking the shelter of his strong, inviting hands. She loved him more intensely, more devotedly than ever before, but she was punishing herself for her forwardness in days gone by. If he had said then that he loved she would have been ready to die with joy. Now—and her passionate hungry eyes left his face and went to the cemetery.
"Let us walk there," he said. "I cried like a child when I heard that that true heart had been laid to rest. But, Chelda, she is not lost to us. We shall spend eternity with her. Let us do what she would have us do if she were here."
"Go," said Chelda, wildly, "go, I cannot endure this."
"I will, but remember, darling, I am here in the town. I am preaching again in the church. Send for me at any time. I shall not leave you."
She threw herself down by the table, shaken and torn by hysterical weeping, and with a last embrace and many a backward glance he left her.