"But Mr. Stanley does not know."
"No."
"Then he must be told."
"If you tell him he'll fling prudence to the winds in an agony of remorse, and you'll have won the game."
"You mean he'll keep to his engagement?"
"I mean he'll marry you."
"And you dare to ask any woman to allow such a slander to live when she can deny it?"
"I ask you, for your own sake, for the reasons I've stated, for your future happiness, and as an escape from certain misery—to let him go."
"I tell you I love him."
"Then I ask you for his sake. A brilliant diplomatic career is just opening before him, as the result of the discovery of this plot. Is his government likely to repose confidence in him in the future, with you as his wife—a woman who has practised treason? His father would never receive you, and might disinherit him. Do you love this man so little that you wish to ruin him?"