t exactly the place
I'd choose to remain in, alone all the time."

"Poor little girl, I've been thinking of that," he told her, reaching
across the table to take her hands. "It's worried me, Beth, worried me
greatly--your unprotected position, and all that."

"Oh, you needn't worry." She withdrew her hands. Someway it seemed a
sacrilege for him to touch them--it was not to be borne--she hardly
knew why, or since when. "I want to know about Glen," she added.
"Never mind me."

"But I do mind," he assured her. His hand was trembling. "Beth, I--I
can't talk much--I mean romantic talk, and all that, but--well--I've
about concluded we ought to be married at once--for your sake--your
protection--and my peace of mind. I have thought about it ever since I
left you here alone."

The brightness expressive of the gayety of her nature departed from her
eyes. She looked fixedly at the man's dark face, with its gray,
deep-set, penetrative eyes, its bluish jaw, and knitted brows. It
frightened her, someway, as it never had before. He had magnetized her
always--sometimes more than now, but his influence crept upon her
subtly even here.

"But I--I think I'd rather not--just yet," she faltered, crimsoning and
dropping her gaze to the table. "You promised not to--to urge me
again--at least till I've spoken to Glen."

"But I could not have known--forseen these conditions," he told her,
leaning further towards her across the table. "Why shouldn't we be
married now--at once? A six months' engagement is certainly long
enough. Your position here is--well--almost dubious. You must see
that. It isn't right of me--decent--not to make you my wife
immediately. I wish to do so--I wish it very much."

She arose, as if to wrench herself free from the spell he was casting
upon her.

"I'm all right--I'm quite all right," she said. "I'd rather not--just
now. There's no one here who cares a penny who or what I am. If my
position here is misunderstood--it can do no harm. I'd rather you
wouldn't say anything further about it--just at present."

Her agitation did not escape him. If he thought of the horseman who
had carried her off while sending himself to the convicts, his plan for
vengeance only deepened.

"You must have some reason for refusing." He too arose.

"No--no particular reason," she answered, artlessly walking around the
table, apparently to pick up a button from the floor, but actually to
avoid his contact.