“It cannot be,” she said.
“Why not?” he asked sharply.
Elfride was distressed to find him in so stern a mood, and she trembled. In a confusion of ideas, probably not intending a wilful prevarication, she answered hurriedly—
“If he’s dead, how can you meet him?”
“Is he dead? Oh, that’s different altogether!” said Knight, immensely relieved. “But, let me see—what did you say about that tomb and him?”
“That’s his tomb,” she continued faintly.
“What! was he who lies buried there the man who was your lover?” Knight asked in a distinct voice.
“Yes; and I didn’t love him or encourage him.”
“But you let him kiss you—you said so, you know, Elfride.”
She made no reply.