And Dinah was left to face her monster alone.
She did not look at Sir Eustace in the first dreadful moments that
followed Scott's exit. She was horribly afraid. There was to her
something inexpressibly ruthless in his very silence. She longed yet
dreaded to hear him speak.
He did not do so for many seconds, and she thought by his utter stillness
that he must be listening to the wild throbbing of her heart.
Then at last, just as the tension of waiting was becoming unbearable and
she was on the verge of piteous entreaty, he seated himself on the edge
of the table and spoke.
"Well," he said, "we have got to get at the root of this trouble somehow.
You don't propose to throw me over without telling me why, I suppose?"
His voice was perfectly calm. She even fancied that he was faintly
smiling as he uttered the words, but she could not look at him to see.
She found it difficult enough to speak in answer.
"I know I am treating you very badly," she said, wringing her clasped
hands in her agitation. "You--of course you can make me marry you.
I've promised myself to you. You have the right. But if you will
only--only let me go, I am sure it will be much better for you too.
Because--because--I've found out--I've found out--that I don't love you."
It was the greatest effort she had ever made in her life. She wondered
afterwards how she had ever brought herself to accomplish it.
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