several. Until we can determine upon one, I suggest that you permit me to
say to your father that I have asked you to be my wife, and that the
subject has come upon you so suddenly that you wish a short time,--a
fortnight or a month--in which to consider your answer."

"That is but a ruse, I say, to gain time," she answered contemptuously. "I
do not wish one moment in which to consider. You already have my answer. I
should think you had had enough. Do you desire more of the same sort? A
little of such treatment should go a long way with a man possessed of one
spark of honor or self-respect."

Her language would have angered a sheep.

"If you will not listen to me," I answered, thoroughly aroused and
careless of consequences, "go to your father. Tell him I asked you to be
my wife, and that you scorned my suit. Then take the consequences. He has
always been gentle and tender to you because there has been no conflict.
Cross his desires, and you will learn a fact of which you have never
dreamed. You have seen the manner in which he treats others who oppose
him. You will learn that with you, too, he can be one of the cruelest and
most violent of men."

"You slander my father. I will go to him as you advise and will tell him
that I would not marry you if you wore the English crown. I, myself, will
tell him of my meeting with Sir John Manners rather than allow you the
pleasure of doing so. He will be angry, but he will pity me."

"For God's sake, Dorothy, do not tell your father of your meetings at
Overhaddon. He would kill you. Have you lived in the same house with him
all these years and do you not better know his character than to think