“I am sorry to seem harsh,” he said, in the resolute tone of a man who has made up his mind to a plan and is going to put it into execution. “But if you knew the strength of my love for you, you would understand that I am bound to have my desire—if not by persuasion, then by force. I am no longer master of myself in the matter. Many a happy marriage has come of a rough wooing. Be sensible, dear, and accept the inevitable.”
“No, no!” Philippa cried. “Zarka, you coward! You shall never marry me against my will!”
“I hope not; but I am bound, much against my will, to bring some pressure to bear. It is for your good. I do you no harm; where is the dishonour in my proposal? That you shall be my wife, my queen?”
“I tell you, no! I will never marry you.”
“You shall never marry any other man. Consider the position in which you stand. You leave Rozsnyo in custody as Royda d’Ivady’s murderess, or you stay here as my wife.”
“Then let me go! I am innocent, Heaven knows, but I would rather die than marry you.”
Zarka seemed to grind his teeth for very exasperation. “The girl is bewitched,” he said, more to himself than to her. “No woman ever spurned me like this. I cannot see you dragged away to jail,” he went on in a louder tone, “and I will not give you up. We must be married here and now.”
Whether it was from weakness or the apathy of despair, or some subtle essence in the atmosphere of the place, Philippa had felt dazed, and, with a strange inertness, incapable of exerting her will but as the full villainy of the trap flashed upon her, indignation acting upon her nerves cleared her brain, and gave her temporary strength.
“You dastardly ruffian!” she cried. “There was a lower depth, then. I might have known it. You think by force to make me your wife! I would rather go to prison a thousand times over, die a thousand deaths before I would give myself to a man I so loathe—ah, I cannot tell you how I loathe you! Now, you have your answer, do your worst.”
“I will kill you, Philippa,” he returned with savage intensity, “if I cannot marry you.”