She looked at him with a hopeless appeal in her eyes.
"Do they all believe them?" she said. "Ah, how can they? They know I was not—like that! I have not done anything! I have been unhappy, but—but I"—
She stopped a moment—or was stopped by her breaking voice.
"This has been too much for you," he said. "You are ill, child!"
"I have been ill for some time," she answered. "And the last few days have been very hard."
She made an effort to recover herself.
"I will go to the ball," she said, "if you think it best."
"It is best," he replied. "And you need not be afraid"—
"I am not afraid," she interposed, quickly, and the spark of fire showed itself in her eyes again. "I might allow myself to be beaten, if it were not for my children; but, as it is, you will see that I will not be beaten. I will be well for to-morrow night at least. I will not look like a victim. They will see that I am not afraid."