‘You coward!’ burst forth Kitty, rising from her seat, and crossing over to him; ‘you made me leave my home with your false promises, and now you refuse to make me the only reparation that is in your power.’ ‘Circumstances are against any virtuous intentions I may entertain,’ retorted Vandeloup, coolly. Kitty looked at him for a moment, then ran over to a desk near the window, and took from thence a small bottle of white glass with two red bands round it. She let the lid of the desk fall with a bang, then crossed to Vandeloup, holding the bottle up before him. ‘Do you know what this is?’ she asked, in a harsh voice. ‘The poison I made in Ballarat,’ he answered, coolly, blowing a wreath of smoke; ‘how did you get hold of it?’ ‘I found it in your private desk,’ she said, coldly. ‘That was wrong, my dear,’ he answered, gently, ‘you should never betray confidences--I left the desk in your charge, and it should have been sacred to you.’ ‘Out of your own mouth are you condemned,’ said the girl, quickly; ‘you have betrayed my confidence and ruined me, so if you do not fix a day for our marriage, I swear I will drink this and die at your feet.’ ‘How melodramatic you are, Bebe,’ said Vandeloup, coolly; ‘you put me in mind of Croisette in “Le Sphinx”.’ ‘You don’t believe I will do it.’ ‘No! I do not.’ ‘Then see.’ She took the stopper out of the bottle and held it to her lips. Vandeloup did not stir, but, still smoking, stood looking at her with a smile. His utter callousness was too much for her, and replacing the stopper again, she slipped the bottle into her pocket and let her hands fall idly by her side. ‘I thought you would not do it,’ replied Gaston, smoothly, looking at his watch; ‘you must really excuse me, I hear the cab wheels outside.’ Kitty, however, placed herself in front of him as he moved towards the door. ‘Listen to me,’ she said, in a harsh voice, with white face and flaming eyes; ‘to-night I leave this house for ever.’ He bowed his head. ‘As it pleases you,’ he replied, simply. ‘My God!’ she cried, ‘have you no love for me now?’ ‘No,’ he answered, coldly and brutally, ‘I am tired of you.’ She fell on her knees and clutched his hand. ‘Dear Gaston! dear Gaston!’ she cried, covering it with kisses, ‘think how young I am, how my life is ruined, and by you. I gave up everything for your sake--home, father, and friends--you will not cast me off like this after all I have sacrificed for you? Oh, for God’s sake, speak--speak!’ ‘My dear,’ said Vandeloup, gravely, looking down at the kneeling figure with the streaming eyes and clenched hands, ‘as long as you choose to stay here I will be your friend--I cannot afford to marry you, but while you are with me our lives will be as they have been; good-bye at present,’ touching her forehead coldly with his lips, ‘I will call to-morrow afternoon to see how you are, and I trust this will be the last of such scenes.’