Why had
he warned her against attempting to define her position? What had those
last words of his meant?
One thing at least was certain. Though he had done little to reassure
her, she must make a determined effort to overcome her fear of the man.
She must not again shrink openly in his presence. She must feign
confidence, though she felt it not. Something that he had said a week
before on the occasion of his extraordinary proposal of marriage
recurred to her at this point with curious force.
"It is all a question of trust," he had said, and she recalled the
faint, derisive smile with which he had spoken. "Whatever you expect,
that you will receive." The words dwelt in her memory with a strange
persistence. She had a feeling that they meant a good deal. It was
possible--surely it was possible--that if she trusted him, he might
prove himself to be trustworthy. If only her nerves were equal to the
task! If only the terrible memory of his kiss could be blotted for ever
and ever from her mind!
She rose at last and began to move about the little state cabin. It was
furnished luxuriously in every detail--almost, she told herself with a
shiver, as though for a bride. Catching sight of her reflection in a
mirror, she stared aghast, scarcely recognising herself in the
wild-eyed, haggard woman who met her gaze. Small wonder that she had
deemed him repressive, she told herself, for she looked like a demented
creature.
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