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, panting with the exhaustion of the struggle. Oh, if only Mrs. Peyton would release her! &quot;If you have the right to know it, why does n't he tell you?&quot; she cried.

Mrs. Peyton stood up, quivering. &quot;I will go home and ask him,&quot; she said. &quot;I will tell him he has your permission to speak.&quot;

She moved toward the door, with the nervous haste of a person unaccustomed to decisive action. But Kate sprang before her.

&quot;No, no; don't ask him! I implore you not to ask him,&quot; she cried.

Mrs. Peyton turned on her with sudden authority of voice and gesture. &quot;Do I understand you?&quot; she said. &quot;You admit that you have a reason for putting off your marriage, and yet you forbid me—me, Denis's mother—to ask him what it is? My poor child, I need n't ask, for I know already. If he has offended you, and you refuse him the chance to defend himself, I