"Surely you would not force me against my will, Captain Le Gaire?
I do not desire to rebel, to absolutely refuse, but I hope you will listen to me, and then act the part of a gentleman.

I presume you desire me for your wife, not your slave." I thought he had lost his voice he was so long in answering; then the tones were hoarse, indistinct.
"Listen! Yes! I want you to explain; only don't expect too much from me." She looked directly at him, her cheeks flushing to the insolence of his accent.
"I am hardly likely to err in that way any more," rather coldly, "but I do owe you an explanation.

I have done wrong to permit this affair to go so far without protest, but I did not comprehend my own feelings clearly until to-night.

I merely drifted without realizing the danger, and now the shock of discovery leaves me almost helpless.

I realize distinctly only one thing--I can not, I will not, marry you.
"Do these words seem cruel, unjust ?" she went on, strangely calm.
"Perhaps they are, yet it is surely better for me to speak them now than to wreck both our lives by remaining silent longer.