What matter if my will was against that marriage? It was but
the will of a girl, and must be broken. All my world was with the
King; I, who stood alone, was but a woman, young and untaught.
Oh, they pressed me sore, they angered me to the very heart! There
was not one to fight my battle, to help me in that strait, to show me
a better path than that I took. With all my heart, with all my soul,
with all my might, I hate that man which that ship brought here
to-day! You know what I did to escape them all, to escape that
man. I fled from England in the dress of my waiting maid and
under her name. I came to Virginia in that guise. I let myself be
put up, appraised, cried for sale, in that meadow yonder, as if I had
been indeed the piece of merchandise I professed myself. The one
man who approached me with respect I gulled and cheated. I let
him, a stranger, give me his name. I shelter myself now behind his
name. I have foisted on him my quarrel. I have - Oh, despise me, if
you will! You cannot despise me more than I despise myself!"
I stood with my hand upon the table and my eyes studying the
shadow of the vines upon the floor. All that she said was perfectly
true, and yet - I had a vision of a scarlet and black figure and a
dark and beautiful face. I too hated my Lord Carnal.
"I do not despise you, madam," I said at last.
Pages:
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108