'Never.'
He laughed. 'She would swear to it, and yet at the New Year she will be there. And she will take me and be mine. For me she must and will love. It is her fate; she cannot oppose that for ever. For me she would even give up George De Witt.'
'George De Witt is dead.'
'I say, were it to come to this, George or Elijah, one or the other, you would fly to Elijah and cast George off.'
'Let me go. I will have no more of this mad babble,' said Mehalah, wrenching her hands out of his grasp. She would not run away. She was too proud. She folded her arms on her breast and confronted him.
'Hark!' she said, 'the Christmas bells.'
Faint and far off could be heard the merry pealing of the Colchester bells. The wind had shifted.
'Peace on earth and good will to men,' muttered Elijah; 'but to them that fight against their destiny fury and hate.'
'Go back, Elijah, and speak to me no more on this matter. I will not hear you again. I have but endured it now.'
'This is Christmas Eve,' said Rebow. 'In eight days is the New Year, and then you will be in Red Hall, Glory!'