"Do try and
believe that."
"If I could believe it of course I should let you alone. But we
can't believe by willing it; and I confess I don't understand. I could
understand your disliking me; that I could understand well. But that
you should admit you do-"
"What have I admitted?" Isabel interrupted, turning slightly pale.
"That you think me a good fellow; isn't that it?" She said
nothing, and he went on: "You don't seem to have any reason, and
that gives me a sense of injustice."
"I have a reason, Lord Warburton." She said it in a tone that made
his heart contract.
"I should like very much to know it."
"I'll tell you some day when there's more to show for it."
"Excuse my saying that in the mean time I must doubt of it."
"You make me very unhappy," said Isabel.
"I'm not sorry for that; it may help you to know how I feel. Will
you kindly answer me a question?" Isabel made no audible assent, but
he apparently saw in her eyes something that gave him courage to go
on. "Do you prefer some one else?"
"That's a question I'd rather not answer."
"Ah, you do then!" her suitor murmured with bitterness.
The bitterness touched her, and she cried out: "You're mistaken! I
don't.
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