“And you refuse happiness?”
“It could be happiness for neither of us,” said Honora. “The situation would be impossible. You are not a man who would be satisfied with moderation. You would insist upon having all. And you do not know what you are asking.”
“I know that I want you,” he said, “and that my life is won or lost with or without you.”
“You have no right to say such a thing.”
“We have each of us but one life to live.”
“And one life to ruin,” she answered. “See, you are running on the rocks!”
He swung the boat around.
“Others have rebuilt upon ruins,” he declared.
She smiled at him.
“But you are taking my ruins for granted,” she said. “You would make them first.”