“I say—No!” he answered.
Lady Holchester interfered for the first time.
“Your brother’s generous offer deserves a better answer than that,” she said.
“My answer,” reiterated Geoffrey, “is—No!”
He sat between them with his clenched fists resting on his knees—absolutely impenetrable to any thing that either of them could say.
“In your situation,” said Julius, “a refusal is sheer madness. I won’t accept it.”
“Do as you like about that. My mind’s made up. I won’t let my wife be taken away from me. Here she stays.”
The brutal tone in which he had made that reply roused Lady Holchester’s indignation.
“Take care!” she said. “You are not only behaving with the grossest ingratitude toward your brother—you are forcing a suspicion into your mother’s mind. You have some motive that you are hiding from us.”
He turned on his mother with a sudden ferocity which made Julius spring to his feet. The next instant his eyes were on the ground, and the devil that possessed him was quiet again.