"Concerning—love."
He was gripping a stanchion fiercely; his fingers were white with the strain.
"Vaguely—— I think I was exhausted."
"Oh! you're not—you're not honest at all!" she suddenly exploded. "That day of the wreck—on the steamer—you know what you said to me then! And any man who has acted so nobly, so thoughtfully——"
He turned and gripped the small, soft hand by his coat-sleeve on the rail.
"Don't do it, little woman—don't do it!" he said, in a low voice, charged with passion. "You told me some stinging truths that day, and now—they're truer than ever!"
"I didn't!" she said, no longer master of her feelings. "I didn't tell the truth! I said I hated—said I loathed—— And you said I'd throw his ring in the sea—and you said you'd make me—like you—some—and you know that I couldn't help liking you now—when you've treated me so horribly all the time! And after everything we've done together——"
"Elaine!" he interrupted, hoarsely, "when did you throw away his ring?"
"After the tiger—the night I gave you the cap, and you acted so hatefully and mean! It bounced and went into the water."
He was white, and tremendously shaken, while gleams of incandescence burned deeply in his eyes. How he stayed the lawless impulse to take her to his arms he never knew. He dropped her hand and turned away, with a savage note of pain upon his lips.