"She is like that. If she were not, she would have been captured and married long ago. You surely don't imagine that proposals have been wanting?"
"Everyone knows they have not."
"Ask Mrs. Dawes! She keeps a diary of them in her thousand letters. She writes about nothing else now."
"But what, then, is the explanation of it, dear Alice?"
"It is quite simple. She is gentle, sweet-tempered, obliging—all this and more. But she dwells in an enchanted land, into which none may intrude. She preserves it inviolate with extraordinary vigilance and tact."
"To touch her is forbidden, you mean?"
"Absolutely! Fancy your not understanding that yet!"
"I did understand; but I forgot."
Frans Röy sat silent as if he were listening to something far away. Again he heard the sharp cries of fear which thrilled through the air as he drew near, saw the terrified sign to the carriage, felt Mary's trembling body, heard the ejaculation uttered with all her remaining strength, saw her walk on, weeping. All at once he understood! What a stupid, coarse criminal he was!
He sat there dumb, miserable.