“It would be courage to stay, to despise public opinion.”
And, as any thing appeared to her preferable to such a separation, she
added,--
“Listen! If you will stay, I will yield. Let us go together to my
father, and I will tell him that I have overcome my aversion to Miss
Brandon. I will ask him to present me to her; _I_ will humble myself
before her.”
“That is impossible, Henrietta.”
She bent towards him, joining her hands; and in a suppliant voice she
repeated,--
“Stay, I beseech you, in the name of our happiness! If you have ever
loved me, if you love me now, stay!”
Daniel had foreseen this heartrending scene; but he had vowed, that,
if his heart should break, he would have the fortitude to resist
Henrietta’s prayers and tears.
“If I were weak enough to give way now, Henrietta,” he said, “you would
despise me before the month is over; and I, desperate at having to drag
out a life of disgrace, would blow out my brains with a curse on you.”
With her arms hanging listlessly by her side, her hands crossed behind
her, Miss Ville-Handry stood there motionless, like a statue. She felt
in her heart that Daniel’s resolution was not to be shaken.