"Only this one. Shall you—marry him?"
"No. Never."
Sheer incredulity held him silent; and when he spoke there was rebellion in his tone.
"Your life and my own are to remain broken, unfulfilled, because of—this incomprehensible thing?"
"There is nothing else possible."
He relinquished her hand at that, giving it back to her, as it were, with a quiet finality of renunciation that shattered her self-control. She sank into a chair and hid her face in a vain attempt to conceal the tears that came in spite of herself.
He stood beside her for several seconds in a heart-broken silence; then gently touched her arm.
"Honor—Honor, is it really so impossible—as you think? I tell you plainly I can't understand——"
She uncovered her face and looked up at him.
"Can any one ever understand—this sort of thing? Isn't it a force outside the control of reason, of even the strongest will?"