"Helen, your eyes have answered me." There was a deep throb of exultation in his voice. "But let me hear you speak."
She stood with pale face and laboring breath. Her voice shook with the intensity of her emotion.
"I love you, Ralph. More than I can tell you in a lifetime, I love you." She spoke in obedience to a power beyond her will to control.
Winston sprang toward her, but her hand rested on his breast. She could feel the strong, even throb of his heart and this strengthened her will to resist.
"Listen, Ralph!" Her voice was intense but low; every word pierced like pencils of light in deep waters. "I have been cruel, mercilessly, selfishly cruel. I longed to hear you say what you have said. All my life I shall remember it as a penance for the wrong I have done you."
"I will not listen to such words." He clasped the hand that rested on his breast, but she tore it away.
"Don't tempt me further, Ralph."
He was again close beside her.
"Tell me all, Helen. You have given me the right to know."
"I have not, I cannot. If I should tell you, you would despise me. If I granted your wish, all my life I should loathe myself."