"Lord Rufford," she said, "if you are a man of honour let
there be an end of this. I am sure you do not wish to make me
wretched."
"I would do anything to make you happy."
"Then tell me that you love me honestly, sincerely, with all your
heart,--and I shall be happy."
"You know I do."
"Do you? Do you?" she said, and then she flung herself on to his
shoulder, and for a while she seemed to faint. For a few minutes
she lay there and as she was lying she calculated whether it would
be better to try at this moment to drive him to some clearer
declaration, or to make use of what he had already said without
giving him an opportunity of protesting that he had not meant to
make her an offer of marriage. He had declared that he loved her
honestly and with his whole heart. Would not that justify her in
setting her uncle at him? And might it not be that the Duke would
carry great weight with him;--that the Duke might induce him to
utter the fatal word though she, were she to demand it now, might
fail? As she thought of it all she affected to swoon, and almost
herself believed that she was swooning. She was conscious but
hardly more than conscious that he was kissing her;--and yet her
brain was at work. She felt that he would be startled, repelled,
perhaps disgusted were she absolutely to demand more from him now.
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