"I mean it."
"Yet you see the danger?"
"I see the danger."
The fact that he would not condescend to lie to her eased a little her bitter sense of defeat.
She rose awkwardly—all of a piece.
"Then I have no more to say. I wash my hands of you all. Until you come to your senses, I don't cross this threshold again."
In spite of the threadbare phrases, genuine pain vibrated in her tone.
"Don't rant, old thing. You know you'll never keep it up," Nevil urged more gently than he had spoken yet.
But anger still dominated pain.
"When I say a thing, I mean it," she retorted stiffly, "as you will find to your cost." Without troubling to answer, he lunged for the door handle; but she waved him aside. "All humbug—playing at politeness—when you've spurned my advice."