Nell drew a long breath painfully, and her gray eyes grew dark.
"It isn't wisdom," she said wearily. "Any schoolgirl knows as much, would see what I have seen—though a man might not. You have been too busy, too taken up with politics—politics!—and she—she has tried to forget her troubles in lecturing, and meetings and committees. And all the while her heart was aching with longing, with longing for just one word from you."
The earl turned his head aside.
"Ah! if you doubt it still, go to her!" said Nell. "Go and ask her!"
"I will," he said, raising his head, his eyes glowing. "I will go."
He moved to the door, then stopped and came back to her; he had forgotten her, forgotten the tragic scene in which he had just taken part.
"I beg your pardon! Forgive me! It was ungrateful of me to forget your trouble, my dear!"
Nell made a gesture of indifference.
"It does not matter," she said dully. "I—I will go."
"Go?" he said.