“You do mean to make the charge, then?” he retorted.
She stood silent, feeling herself defeated, and at the same time humiliated that their angry thoughts should have dragged them down to such a level.
“Don’t sneer—” she faltered.
“Sneer? At what? I’m in dead earnest—can’t you see it? You’ve ruined me—or very nearly. I’m not speaking now of my feelings; that would make you sneer, probably. At any rate, this is no time for discussing them. I’m merely putting my case as a poor devil who has to earn his living, a man who has his good name to defend. On both counts you’ve done me all the harm you could.”
“I had to stop this marriage.”
“Very well. I agreed to that. I did what I’d promised. Couldn’t you let it alone?”
“No. Because Anne wouldn’t. She wanted to ask you to come back. She saw I couldn’t bear it—she suspected me of knowing something. She insisted.”
“And you sacrificed my good name rather—”
“Oh, I’d sacrifice anything. You’d better understand that.”
“I do understand it. That’s why I’m here. To tell you I consider that what you’ve done has freed me from my promise.”