He kissed her again and sighed.
"You must not ask me to promise until I know what I am doing, for I have never broken one in my life, dear."
He loosened her arms from his neck, thinking, with something like a choking sensation, of the one that he had already given and wondering if anything would happen to release him from it before it was eternally too late.
Resolutely he put the thought from his mind and turned again to Andrew Pryor.
"Are you ready?" he asked, the anxiety in his voice increasing.
"Yes. You may be sure that it is all true, Lynde, and that you are the heir to your uncle's fortune at last."
"You seem to have forgotten, all of you, that if this story is true, that will can make small difference to me, as my uncle left a daughter of whose existence he died in ignorance. The money will be even less mine than it was before. Do not think that I grudge it to the unfortunate girl, for that is the only part of the story that offers me any pleasure at all."
The consternation of the group was even greater than before, but not waiting for comment, Lynde placed his hand upon Mr. Pryor's arm and hurried him from the room.
"There is one hope!" exclaimed Edith to Miss Pryor when the men had gone. "If Miss Chandler knows that there is no chance for Lynde to get the money she will not hold him to that miserable engagement, perhaps, for I feel convinced from his manner that if she should he would still marry her!"