He might depart in anger, and she might lose him forever.

That was the very last thing she wished.

If she lost Reginald, it would be some consolation to marry, immediately after, a richer man.

It would be revenge; it would prove how little she cared for him; it would deprive him of the pleasure of thinking she was pining in maiden loneliness for him.

Then, too, the public announcement of her engagement and approaching marriage to M.La Touche might arouse him to the knowledge of how much he loved her.