"
"Not so very long ago," she corrected.
"That does not matter. The point is that I believe it in my power to
make you happy--at any rate, it would always be my ambition to see you
so; and therein I should no doubt regain a great deal that I have
lost--"
"But you do not love me, Captain Stafford?"
"I have just said that I have lost the power of loving."
For a moment she was silent, her jeweled hands resting wearily on the
arms of her chair, her eyes sunk to the ground.
"You made me an honorable proposal, Captain Stafford," she said at
last. "You are an honorable man and inspire me with the desire to be
honorable also. Won't you take back your freedom while there is yet
time?"
"No."
"There are others--good women among whom you would find one who would
love you as you deserve. I do not love you. All I can bring is a
certain respect and friendship--that is all."
"I am grateful for so much," he said. He was thinking of Lois, and his
voice sounded hard and compressed.
"If I marry you it will be because I must."
He nodded.
"Yes, I am aware of that."
"Aware of that?" she said, looking up into his haggard face. "How
should you be 'aware of that?' Is my private life so public then?"
"You misunderstand me," he said, striving to cover up what he felt to
have been a wanton piece of brutality. "I only mean, you must for the
same reason that I must--because circumstances have linked us
inseparably together, and because--"
He broke off.
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