"I will call my mother," said Helen, rising.
"I pray, stay," said Oswald; "I pray you! I have only two words to say. I would rather say them to you than to the baroness."
There was something so solemn in Oswald's manner and tone of voice that Helen had not the heart to refuse his request.
"Will you sit down?" she said, sinking herself into a chair and pointing at another chair near her.
Oswald sat down.
"I do not know, Miss Helen, if your mother has spoken to you of certain intrigues by which she has been troubled of late, and which originate mainly with a certain Mr. Timm?"
"I have just this morning heard of it for the first time."
"That was my own fate. And this is what brings me here. I cannot bear the thought; I believe I could not die quietly if I thought that you believed me capable of employing such vile means against you. Will you please tell the baroness so?"
"I will."
"And tell her also, I pray, and believe yourself, how bitterly I regret that you have been troubled with such a matter."