“They tried to force me into it. Mother Ursula was with them till Dan tried his bullying, and then she held him and his father off.”
The expression on Richard’s amiable face contradicted its habitual shinings towards sweetness.
“But, Bess, old Grimshaw promised me—”
“He’s as bad as Dan,” she said, with a snarl. “I hate—hate them both.”
“They can’t marry you against your will.”
“Not while I have the pistols.”
There was a look almost suggestive of fear on her face for the moment, despite its spirit of defiance. She glanced round her swiftly, and drew closer to Jeffray.
“I am afraid of Dan.”
“Afraid, Bess?”
“Yes, as much as I am of anything.”