Nor would he ever have
been the fool to let the truth fly, except under the reaction of
evil drugs, and the rush of fierce wrath at the threatened ruin of
his cherished scheme.
Arctura thenceforth avoided her cousin as much as she could--only
remembering that the house was hers, and she must not make him feel
he was not welcome to use it. They met at meals, and she tried to
behave as if nothing unpleasant had happened and things were as
before he went away.
"You are very cruel, Arctura," he said one morning he met her in the
terrace avenue.
"Cruel?" returned Arctura coldly; "I am not cruel. I would not
willingly hurt anyone."
"You hurt me much; you give me not a morsel, not a crumb of your
society!"
"Percy," said Arctura, "if you will be content to be my cousin, we
shall get on well enough; but if you are set on what cannot be--once
for all, believe me, it is of no use. You care for none of the
things I live for! I feel as if we belonged to different worlds, so
little have we in common. You may think me hard, but it is better we
should understand each other. If you imagine that, because I have
the property, you have a claim on me, be sure I will never
acknowledge it. I would a thousand times rather you had the property
and I were in my grave!"
"I will be anything, do anything, learn anything you please!" cried
Forgue, his heart aching with disappointment.
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