fe here You did not always
regard me as so hateful; and the love that I bear you is
unchangeable. Even could you, months or years hence, make your
escape, which I regard as impossible, what would your position be
if you returned to England? What story would you have to tell? It
might be a true one, but would it be believed?'

"'I have my maid, sir,' I said, passionately, 'who would confirm my
report of what I have suffered.'

"'No doubt she would,' he said quietly, 'but a maid's testimony as
to her mistress's doings does not go for very much. I endeavoured
to make the voyage, which I foresaw might be a long one, pleasant
to you by requesting you to bring her with you, and I believe that
ladies who elope not unfrequently take their maids with them. But
we need not discuss that. This valley will be your home, Miss
Greendale, until you consent to leave it as my wife. I do not say
that I shall always share your solitude here. I shall cruise about,
and may even for a time return to England, but that will in no way
alter your position. I have been in communication with the Obi
gentleman since I first put into the bay, and he has arranged to
take charge of your safety while I am away. He is not a pleasant
man to look at, and I have no doubt that he is an unmitigated
scoundrel--but his powers are unlimited. If he ordered his
followers to offer you and your maid as sacrifices to his fetish,
they would carry out his orders, not only willingly, but joyfully.
He is a gentleman who, like his class, has a keen eye to the main
chance, and will, I doubt not, take every precaution to prevent a
source of considerable income from escaping him.'

"'You understand,' he went on, in a different manner, 'I do not
wish to threaten you--very far from it. I have endeavoured from the
time that you set foot on board to make you as comfortable as
possible, and to abstain from thrusting myself upon you in the
slightest degree, and I shall always pursue the same course. But
please understand that nothing will shake my resolution. It will
pain me deeply to have to keep you in a place like this, but keep
you I must until you consent to be mine. You must see yourself the
hopelessness, as well as the folly, of holding out. On the one side
is a life wasted here, on the other you will be the wife of a man
who loves you above all things; who has risked everything by the
step that he has taken, and who, when you consent, will devote his
life to your happ