Gilbert Warrington bowed, and there was a mocking devil in his crafty eyes as he responded:
“My dear Miss Arleigh, I am really very sorry that I cannot comply with your request. I do not like to refuse a lady anything, and especially a fair lady like yourself”—with another mocking bow—“but truly, circumstances over which I have no control, etc., etc., preclude the possibility of complying with your demand. In short, my dear Violet, not to put too fine a point on the argument, I will not let you go free until you and I are husband and wife!”
“Very well, sir. Then I suppose I may look upon this place as a living tomb, for I shall certainly never be your wife! Death by inches in this horrible place would be preferable to such a fate!”
Warrington fairly shook with rage, but he controlled his wrath; and biting his lip to keep back the torrent of angry words which were striving for utterance, he went on:
“Whatever you may wish, your wishes shall not be consulted. I am determined to have the Arleigh fortune, and as I can legally obtain it in no other way save by marrying you, I am going to make you my wife, though I detest the sight of your white face and big, mournful eyes. But you are only the means to the end—-the desideratum. Unpleasant as you are, I shall have to use you as a stepping-stone to fortune.”
Violet’s eyes flashed indignantly.
“And suppose that I decline to be a stepping-stone for any one?” she demanded.
He smiled a slow, derisive smile.
“Unfortunately, my dear, your wishes will not be consulted,” he returned, insolently. “You see, Violet, you are completely in my power—completely. You might as well try to change the course of this earthly planet of ours as to control me in any way. You are going to marry me; there is no evading it in any way, so you may as well resign yourself to the inevitable. To-night I shall be here with a clergyman, and the ceremony shall be performed. Then, and not until then, shall you be set free.”
“I decline to accept my freedom upon such terms!” cried the girl, bravely. “I prefer to stay here until I die! Gilbert Warrington, perhaps you may have heard of the Arleigh will? If so, you need not be reminded that you are wasting your arguments and your valuable time. I have inherited the strong, unyielding will power of the Arleighs, and I never give up when I am in the right!”