A dark frown disfigured Gilbert Warrington’s sullen face.
“The Arleigh will? Ah, I know it indeed full well. Harold Arleigh wrecked his whole life by his indulgence in that unpleasant characteristic of his race. All the same, I shall crush that will in this instance. Think how absurd for you—a mere girl—to attempt to defy me. And you are my prisoner, while I am free to carry out my plans. In short, there is no use for further discussion, you shall become my wife to-night!”
“I will die first!”
“You may die afterward,” returned the villain, brutally; “but not until the conjugal knot is tied. After that you may ‘shuffle off the mortal coil’ as soon as you like. It shall be just as you say. I only ask your signature to a certain document, after which you may take a short cut to Paradise, if you like.”
Sick at heart, the girl stood staring bleakly before her, her form trembling, her heart sinking. What a terrible fate stretched out before her, and she so young and fair! All for the sake of gold, the detested wealth that her mother had left to her.
What should she do, what could she do? The question asked itself over and over in her numbed, bewildered brain with tireless persistency. She could not think; she was incompetent to plan or direct her thoughts. She clasped her hands, and the look of suffering upon the white, beautiful face would have wrung the hardest heart. Appeal was useless; this creature before her had not the heart of a man. He was a wild beast seeking whom he might devour, and she might as well appeal to the mercy of the robbers of the desert or the panther in its jungle as to Gilbert Warrington.
“You understand me?” he continued, breaking the silence which had fallen over the room; “I will be here to-night at eight o’clock with a clergyman, all in readiness to perform the marriage ceremony.”
She turned away as though she had not heard a word that he had spoken.
“A still tongue makes a wise head,” he said, with a coarse laugh. “If silence suits you, well, so it does me. But to-night will end the controversy. As soon as you have signed the document in my possession, signed it with your new name of Mrs. Violet Warrington, I shall leave you in peace and forever!”
She stood as silent and unresponsive as a stone image. He gave her a glance of mingled hatred and triumph, then he left the room, locking its door behind him.