"I have something to say to you."
I could not resist him. He was my master. I had to obey.
When I reached the bottom of the stairway he took my hand, and I did not
know whether it was his hand or mine that was trembling. He led me
across the lawn to the seat in the shrubbery that almost faced my
windows. In the soft and soundless night I could hear his footsteps on
the turf and the rustle of my dress over the grass.
We sat, and for a moment he did not speak. Then with a passionate rush
of words he said:
"Mary, I hadn't meant to say what I'm going to say now, but I can't do
anything else. You are in trouble, and I can't stand by and see you so
ill-used. I can't and I won't!"
I tried to answer him, but my throat was fluttering and I could not
speak.
"It's only a few days before I ought to sail, but they may be enough in
which to do something, and if they're not I'll postpone the expedition
or put it off, or send somebody in my place, for go away I cannot and
leave you like this."
I tried to say that he should not do that whatever happened to me, but
still I could not speak.
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