Might he hope? It depended on me; and denial and distraction were the
same--
He made me shudder! And, serious when I heard it though I found his
demand to be, his manner inspired a confused dread of something
repugnant; something eminently wrong.
He ventured at last to speak. I believe he watched his moment. The
passions, Louisa, however disturbed, are always cunning. He demanded a
promise, solemn and irrevocable, to be his.
Such a promise, I answered, was unnecessary; and, if at all, could only
be given conditionally--