"Leave me at once!" she said, faintly. "Oh! I feel so sick! Go, I say."
"I cannot leave you until I see you better, Dexie. I will not touch you
again, so do not be afraid of me."
Dexie felt too helpless even to object, so she laid back with closed eyes,
wondering what had come over her just when she needed to be strong and
bold. At last, when the silence was beginning to be unbearable to both of
them, she opened her eyes, and Hugh, seeing her efforts to rise, gently
helped her to a sitting posture, then seated himself in the chair beside
her.
"Why did you come here, Mr. McNeil?" looking at him with offended eyes. "It
is unfair to persecute me in this way."
"Forgive me for coming, then, but I had no thought of persecuting you. I
heard news to-day that troubled me, and I was not strong enough to resist
the temptation of coming to see you once more, when I found you were not at
the party."
Dexie sat with tight-clasped hands, but said not a word, and Hugh saw no
relenting look in the dark eyes that looked almost black in their
intensity.
"Dexie, you are displeased with me, and justly so, for my mad behavior in
the boat, but I have longed for the chance to ask your forgiveness, and I
went to Mrs.
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