“I am not so certain of that,” she returned; “but we will not trouble ourselves about it now, Leonard. Of course you know that even if mamma says yes—do you think she will, Leonard?—I could not think of such a thing as marrying—oh, not for ages!”
A look of amusement passed over his face; he bit his lip to suppress a smile.
“Nice prospect for me!” he cried, ruefully. “Now, sweetheart, let me lay down the law. I shall seek an interview with your mother in the morning—my poor darling, we are both alike fatherless—if she is able to receive me. I am so grieved that her health is not good; but I will try not to excite her; and if she will consent to give her treasure into my keeping, I propose that our marriage take place—let me see! this is April—May is an unlucky month for weddings. What do you say to the first of June, sweetheart?”
“June!”—with a frightened start—“oh, Leonard, impossible!”
“Nothing is impossible, my darling,” he returned, coolly. “And now, Violet, the music has struck up the ‘Manola.’ Come, let us waltz together once more. It will be your first dance in the capacity of my betrothed wife!”
She laid her small gloved hand upon his black coat-sleeve, and they returned to the ball-room, where they were soon floating away to the sweet waltz-music.
And over their young, defenseless heads a cloud was gathering, creeping nearer and nearer. Soon it would envelop them in its inky folds.
Upstairs in her pretty sitting-room Rosamond Arleigh was pacing slowly up and down, her head bent, her hands clasped tightly together, her face set and pale as death.
“There is no way of escape,” she muttered, hoarsely, coming to a halt at length in her monotonous pacing to and fro. “I am like the doomed wretch in the Italian prison, who felt its walls closing in around him a little nearer, a little nearer every day. I shall soon be crushed within the walls of destiny and a relentless hatred—a hatred which has existed for years—a hatred which calls itself love, and which will never be satisfied until it has wrought my ruin, body and soul! And there is no escape, no way out—save death!”