“I feared I had been brought here by a set of lawless robbers, and that my honor would be the sacrifice; but, I assure you, I fear no such craven as yourself,” she said, in a voice of intense sarcasm.
He colored angrily at the scorn and irony which her look and tone betrayed, and replied:
“I did not come here to be scorned and abused, Miss Dupont. I came to offer you marriage, honorable and true, together with a heart as faithful as ever beat in the breast of one mortal for another. In a word, I have come to ask you to be my wife!”
Dora stood in a graceful attitude, her pretty head raised just a trifle more than was natural, her little hands coquettishly clasped before her, and one tiny blue velvet slipper peeping out from beneath her white robe, while her eyes were fixed in a cold, unflinching gaze upon his own.
She did not reply, as he ceased speaking, but stood calmly regarding him, as if waiting for him to continue.
His eyes wavered, and finally drooped, and he said, while he moved uneasily in his chair:
“Do you understand my proposition, Miss Dupont?”
“I do, sir!”
“And do you accept it?”
“I do not, sir!”