He turned and came slowly back until he stood beside her. Facing now the inevitable, he recovered some of his calm.
“It must be discovered,” he said quietly. “For the sake of everybody concerned it must—”
“Oh, no, no!” She sprang up and clutched his arm in terror. “They may fail to discover the truth.”
“They must not, my dear,” he answered her; stroking the fair head that lay against his breast. “They must not fail. I must see to that.”
“You? You?” Her eyes dilated as she looked at him. She caught her breath on a gasping sob. “Ah no, Terence,” she cried wildly. “You must not; you must not. You must say nothing—for my sake, Terence, if you love me, oh, for my sake, Terence!”
“For honour’s sake, I must,” he answered her. “And for the sake of Sylvia and of Tremayne, whom I have wronged, and—”
“Not for my sake, Terence,” Sylvia interrupted him.
He looked at her, and then at Tremayne.
“And you, Ned—what do you say?” he asked.
“Ned could not wish—” began her ladyship.