What a
change it was from the child of a few weeks ago--indeed, of a few moments
ago! The same passionate determination which seized her when she faced
Mazarine with Orlando, possessed her again. With her whole being
palpitating, she said: "I will not go back. I will not go back. I will
kill myself first."
"That would be a useless sacrifice of yourself and others," the Young
Doctor answered quietly. Seeing that the new thing in her was not to be
conquered in a moment, he quickly made up his mind what to do.
"See," he continued, "you needn't go back to Tralee to-night, but you're
not going to stay here, dear child. I'll take you over to Nolan Doyle's
ranch, to Mrs. Doyle. You'll spend the night there, and we'll think
about to-morrow when to-morrow comes. You certainly can't stay here.
I'm not going to have it.
"Bless you, you're neither so young nor so old as all that!"
Suddenly he grasped both her arms and looked her in the face. "My dear
young lady," he said gently, "I'm not your only friend, but I'm a stout
friend--so stout that there isn't a mount can carry us both together.
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