Page:Alice Stuyvesant - The Vanity Box.djvu/155

 think so, lately; but she was—in her way, very fond of you. She didn't mean to be cruel, ever."

"I have no hard thoughts of her. On the contrary" But Miss Verney could not go on.

"I know what you would like to say, I think," said Sir Ian, very gently. "She left no will, but if she had dreamed that—she might go suddenly, she would have wished to leave a legacy to you. You must let me"

Suddenly the girl looked up, her blue eyes dark and bright. "Don't!" she broke out. "Don't, Sir Ian. It's no use. I couldn't possibly take one penny from you."

"It wouldn't be from me," he argued. "She"

"All the same, I can't take it," Nora repeated.

"But let me persuade you"

"I tell you I would rather die!"

He stared at her in pained amazement. She looked hard and desperate. He had never seen the beautiful young creature in such a mood. But she had gone through a great deal. No wonder her nerves were strained almost to the breaking point.

"You used to like and trust me a little, I thought," he said.

"Used! Oh, Sir Ian, please go, and leave me, before I say anything which I shall regret all my life—and you will regret too."

He looked at the girl strangely, in silence. Then,