“But he did not hesitate. It is ten months now since he left you; and
no one knows for how many more months, for how many years, he will be
absent. For his sake you suffer martyrdom; and, when he returns, he may
have long since forgotten you.”
Her eyes beaming with faith, Henrietta rose to her full height, and
replied,--
“I believe in Daniel as surely as in myself.”
“And if they convinced you that you were mistaken?”
“They would render me a very sad service, which would bring no reward to
any one.”
Sir Thorn’s lips moved, as if he were about to answer. A thought seemed
to stop him. Then in a stifled voice, with a gesture of despair, he
added,--
“Keep your illusions, madam; and farewell.”
He was going to leave the room; but she threw herself in his way,
crossed her arms, and said to him in an imperative tone,--
“You have gone too far, sir, to retrace your steps. You are bound now
to justify your insidious insinuations, or, to confess that they were
false.”