"You must give me time to reflect on that," he said, after a pause.
"Why do you need time? If the thing isn't true, you've only got to say so."
"It's not quite so easy as that. You can't cut every difficulty with a sword, as they did the Gordian knot. One may go far in defence of a woman's honor, but there are boundaries which even a gallant man cannot pass; and, before I speak, I must see where they lie."
"I want the truth. I want no defence of a woman's honor—"
"Ah, but I do. That's the difference."
"Damn your difference! You didn't think much of a woman's honor when you began your infernal tales."
"Did you, when you let me go on?"
"No. That's where I share your crime. That's all that keeps me from striking you now."
"I let that pass. I know how you feel. I know just how hard it is for you. I've been in something like your situation myself. No man can have much to do with a woman without being put there in one way if not another. It's because I do understand you that I share your pain—and support your insults."
The tremor in his voice, coupled with the dignity of his bearing, carried a certain degree of conviction, so that when Derek spoke again it was less fiercely.