Already her cheek from the hard blow that he had given her was throbbing and burning in a manner that was exceedingly painful.
Next the Parson opened his Prayer Book.
He ignored the introductory prayers and started the Service with the words,
“Wilt thou, Vallient Alexander, take Romana to be your wedded wife?”
“I will,” Lord Kirkhampton replied in a voice that seemed to be almost a trumpet call of triumph for a fallen enemy.
“Romana, wilt thou take this man for thy wedded husband?”
Just for a moment Romana felt that she must protest again. She could not let this thing happen to her. She could not be married to a man she did not know and, worse still, who was not even aware of what was happening to him.
She knew that it was wrong and she knew that the Parson performing the Service wa
