"I come with a request," he began, after a short silence--"with a petition which perhaps no one else could address to you without wounding your feelings. I have let you see what Arno was to me; you will not, therefore, misconstrue the motives which brought me here, I will tell them to you briefly. My son has a friend----"
Gabrielle started. She drew away her hands.
"A friend whom you know--to whom you were once attached. That first love yielded before a more ardent, mightier passion. To my mind, this needs neither to be explained nor justified. Better than anyone do I know how irresistibly Arno could draw to himself those whom he wished to enchain. But now he is dead--and you are free. Does no voice within you speak a word for the early love of your youth?"
"My heart has never ceased to speak for him. It grieved when we were torn apart; yet I sacrificed him and his happiness--I had no choice, indeed, but to sacrifice them, for another voice spoke more loudly within me. I cannot forget Arno."
"Forget!" repeated Brunnow, with emphasis. "No, you cannot forget him; and no other man can you love as you have loved him. I believe that fully."
"No other," said Gabrielle, firmly; "and that is why I never can be George's wife."
"Must we always think of our own happiness?" asked Brunnow, sadly. "Is it not a great thing to make others happy? Winterfeld is at my son's house. Chance has brought him to us; he had no idea of your being here until I told him of it. Then his silence and reserve gave way, and I had a glimpse into the depths of his love, which is still ardent and faithful as ever. He will never find consolation in other ties. I know him--he will go through life a lonely man; and, amid all the success that awaits him, will feel only the emptiness, the void which that cruel parting from you left with him. You are young still, Gabrielle--you have your whole life before you. Devote that life to him--he is worthy of it."
She turned from him hastily.
"No more!" she said. "Spare me these recollections. If you speak in George's name----"
"He knows nothing of my being here," interrupted the Doctor. "On the contrary, he would have held me back. Do not suppose that George will ever again come to you with his suit spontaneously; he rejects such an idea with vehemence--and he is right. You once sent him away. It is for you to call him back."