"'You would not go if you were in my place!' she repeated. 'Then there is something concealed there which it is necessary for me to see. Unless,' she added, looking at me for an answer, 'my husband prohibits it.'
"'He has not prohibited it, my lady.'
"'And yet you would not go if you were in my place! Cannot you see that I should be false to myself if I allowed that place to be sealed forever against me, before making myself acquainted with something that has taken place therein? You need not accompany me, Denise, unless you choose.'
"'I will go with you, my lady,' I said, and we went out of the villa together.
"We entered the summer-house, my lady first, I a few steps behind her.
"She placed her hands upon her eyes and shuddered, the moment she saw the black walls. She understood what was meant by this sign.
"But there was more to come, of which, up to that day, I had been ignorant. On one of the walls was painted in white, the words,
"'The Grave Of Honour.'
"It was like an inscription on a tomb.
"When my lady opened her eyes they fell upon these cruel words. For many minutes she stood in silence, with eyes fixed on the wall, and then she turned towards me, and by a motion of her hand, ordered me to leave the place with her. Never, never, had I seen such an expression of anguish on a face as rested on hers. It was as though her own heart, her own good name, her own honour, were lying dead in that room! There are deeds which can never be atoned for. This deed of my master's was one."