The other was silent. Rust turned to his daughter, and said: ‘This man has suddenly become dumb. Is this he of whom we spoke? An answer I must have, and a true one. Do not add a lie to the infamy which already covers you.’
The girl hesitated, and then uttered something in a voice so low as to be scarcely audible; but faint as it was, Rust caught the words, ‘It is!’
‘It is well,’ replied he, facing the stranger, and drawing his person up erect. ‘I have no time to waste in words, and will state what I have to say as concisely as possible, and will act as promptly as I speak. This is my only child. She was once unsullied, and I was proud of her: that she is not so now, is your fault. There is but one mode of repairing what you’ve done. Will you marry her?’
‘I certainly intend to do so,’ said the young man, with a guilty look, which gave the lie to his words.
‘I want deeds, not intentions,’ replied Rust. ‘What you do must be done now—before you leave this room. A clergyman resides within a mile. In half an hour he can be here.’
The girl clasped her hands joyfully, and looked eagerly at him; but there was nothing responsive in the expression of his face; and he answered:
‘I can’t see the necessity of this haste; beside, it would ruin all my prospects.’
‘You can’t see the necessity of this haste!’ exclaimed Rust, in a voice of thunder. ‘Ruin your prospects! What has become of her prospects? What—what—— But no matter,’ added he, choking down a fierce burst of passion, and suddenly assuming a tone so unnaturally calm that it might have been a warning to the other that it was but a lull in the storm. ‘Michael Rust presents his compliments to his unknown friend, and begs to know if he will do him the honor of marrying, on the spot, his daughter whom he has polluted?’
He paused for an answer; his lips were deadly white, and quivering; and his eye glowed like a serpent’s. The young man quailed before it; but apparently he was only waiting for an opportunity to throw off the mask; for he answered boldly: ‘No, I will not.’
‘You had better,’ said Rust, in a low, warning tone. ‘Think of it again.’