For a few moments Kate Wilton was passive in Garstang's arms. The suddenness of the act--the surprise, stunned her, and his words seemed so impossible that she could not believe her hearing. Then horror and revulsion came; she knew it was the truth, and like a flash it dawned upon her that all that had gone before, the chivalrous behaviour, the benevolence and paternal tenderness, were the clever acting of an unscrupulous man--the outcome of plans and schemes, and for what? To obtain possession of the great fortune by which she felt more than ever that she was cursed. With a faint cry of horror she thrust him back with both hands upon his breast, and struggled wildly to escape from his embrace. But the effort was vain; he clasped her tightly once again, in spite of her efforts, and covered her face, her neck, her hair, with his kisses. "Silly, timid little bird!" he whispered, as he held her there, horrified and panting; "what ails you? The first kisses, of course. There, don't be so foolish, my darling child; they are the kisses of him who loves you, and who is going to make you his wife. Come, have I not been tender and patient, and all that you could wish, and is not this an easy solution of the difficulties by which you are surrounded?" "Mr Garstang, loose me, I insist!" she cried. "How dare you treat me so!" "I have told you, my beautiful darling. Come, come, be sensible; surely the love of one who has worshipped you from the first time he met you is not a thing to horrify you. Am I so old and repulsive, that you should go on like this? Only a few hours ago you were pressing my hands, holding your face to mine for my kisses; while now that I declare myself you begin struggling like a newly-captured bird. Why, Kate, my darling, I am talking to you like a poetic lover in a sentimental play. Really, dry lawyer as I am, I did not know that I could rise to such a flow of eloquence. Yes, pet, and you are acting too. There, that is enough for appearances, and there is no one to see, so let's behave like two sensible matter-of-fact people. Come and sit down here." "I wish to go--at once," she cried, striving hard to be firm, feeling as she did that everything, in her hopeless state, depended upon herself. "We'll talk about that quietly, when you have seated yourself. No--you will not?" he cried playfully. "Then you force me to show you that you must," and raising her in his arms, he bore her quickly to the couch, and sat beside her, pinioning her firmly in his grasp. "There," he said, "man is the stronger in muscles, and woman must obey; but woman is stronger in the silken bonds with which she can hold man, and then he obeys." She sat there panting heavily, ceasing her struggles, as she tried to think out her course of action, for she shrank from shrieking aloud for help, and exposing her position to the two women in the house.