Shew that you are capable of the
same sacrifice. Give me up, too.
JULIA. Sacrifice! And so you think I'm dying to marry you, do you?
CHARTERIS. I am afraid your intentions have been honourable, Julia.
JULIA. You cad!
CHARTERIS (with a sigh). I confess I am something either more or less
than a gentleman, Julia. You once gave me the benefit of the doubt.
JULIA. Indeed! _I_ never told you so. If you cannot behave like a
gentleman, you had better go back to the society of the woman who has
given you up--if such a cold-blooded, cowardly creature can be called
a woman. (She rises majestically; he makes his chair fly back to the
table.) I know you now, Leonard Charteris, through and through, in all
your falseness, your petty spite, your cruelty and your vanity. The
place you coveted has been won by a man more worthy of it.
CHARTERIS (springing up, and coming close to her, gasping with
eagerness). What do you mean? Out with it. Have you accep--
JULIA. I am engaged to Dr. Paramore.
CHARTERIS (enraptured). My own Julia! (He attempts to embrace her.)
JULIA (recoiling--he catching her hands and holding them).
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