Then she looked round full at him, with her large, sad, dark eyes, and rested them on him for full a minute without a word; but he saw that something was stirring in her heart. Then she said gravely, 'I respect you very much, John Herring.'
'Respect will not do for me. I want love,' he said with vehemence.
'I esteem you above all men.'
'That is insufficient. I will be satisfied with nothing short of love.'
'I do not love you.'
Those few words went like a bullet through his heart. He could not speak.
She saw that she had pained him unutterably. She went on. 'I am bound to speak the truth. I cannot lie; I cannot dissemble. What I say is true. I give you everything that is in my power to give. I am yours. I believe you to be the best, the noblest, the truest of men. But love——'
She slowly shook her head and sighed, and relapsed into looking into the burning wood.
His power of speech was gone from him.
'You must not expect too much from me,' she said; 'I will do my duty.'