"You won't go away?
You will let me see you again when you are more composed ?" "I will wait here," said Mercy.
Satisfied with that reply, he left the room.
Her hands dropped on her lap; her head sank back wearily on the cushions at the head of the sofa.

There was a dazed sensation in her: her mind felt stunned.

She wondered vacantly whether she was awake or dreaming.
Had she really said the word which pledged her to marry Horace Holmcroft in a fortnight?
A fortnight! Something might happen in that time to prevent it: she might find her way in a fortnight out of the terrible position in which she stood.

Anyway, come what might of it, she had chosen the preferable alternative to a private interview with Julian Gray.

She raised herself from her recumbent position with a start, as the idea of the interview--dismissed for the last few minutes--possessed itself again of her mind.