Spare me! pity me! leave me!" Her voice failed her; sobs choked her utterance.

He sprang to her and took her in his arms.

She was incapable of resisting him; but there was no yielding in her.

Her head lay on his bosom, passive--horribly passive, like the head of a corpse.
"Mercy! My darling! We will go away--we will leave England--we will take refuge among new people in a new world--I will change my name--I will break with relatives, friends, everybody.

Anything, anything, rather than lose you!" She lifted her head slowly and looked at him.
He suddenly released her; he reeled back like a man staggered by a blow, and dropped into a chair.