She stared at him in gasping astonishment. "You!" she said. "You!"

He laughed into her eyes of horror. "You will soon get used to the
idea," he said. "You see, Wyndham doesn't really want you, and I do.
That is the one extenuating circumstance of my villainy. I want you so
badly that I don't much care what steps I take to get you. And so long
as you continue to hate me as heartily as you do now, just by so much
shall I continue to want you. Is that quite plain?"

She was still staring at him in open repulsion. "And you think I would
marry you?" she said breathlessly. "You think I would marry you?"

"I think you will have to," said Hunt-Goring, with his silky laugh. "I
love you, you see." He added, after a moment, "I shan't be unkind to you
if you behave reasonably. I am well off. I can give you practically
anything you want. Of course you will have to give also; but that goes
without saying. The point is, how soon can we be married?"

"Never!" she cried vehemently. "Never! Never!"

He looked at her, and again her eyes fell; but she continued,
nevertheless, with less of violence but more of force.

"I don't know what you mean by suggesting such a thing. I think you must
be quite mad--as I should be if I took you seriously. I am not going to
marry you, Major Hunt-Goring. I have never liked you, and I never shall.
You force me to speak plainly, and so I am telling you the simple
truth."

"Thank you," said Hunt-Goring. "Well, now, let us see if I can persuade