"But why on earth did you give him so much trouble?"
"I can't tell you," said Ayala, shaking her head.
"Do you mean that there is still a secret?"
"No, not that. I would tell you anything that I could tell, because you have been so very, very good to me. But I cannot tell. I cannot explain even to myself. Oh, Lady Albury, why have you been so good to me?"
"Shall I say because I have loved you?"
"Yes;—if it be true."
"But it is not true."
"Oh, Lady Albury!"
"I do love you dearly. I shall always love you now. I do hope I shall love you now, because you will be his wife. But I have not been kind to you as you call it because I loved you."
"Then why?"