'No, nor in mine,' I assented hastily. 'We are not perfect. But hear me. Yes, the passions are cruel. Circumstances however—I mean, there are social usages—Ay, if one were always looking up t. But should we not be gentle with our comparisons if we would have our views in proportion?'
She hung studiously silent, and I pursued:
'I trust you so much as my helper and my friend that I tell you what we do not usually tell to women—the facts, and the names connected with them. Sooner or later you would have learnt everything. Beloved, I do not wait to let you hear it by degrees, to be reconciled to it piecemeal.'
'And I forgive him,' she sighed. 'I scarcely bring myself to believe that Harry has bled from Otto's hand.'
'It was the accident of the case, Ottilia. We had to meet.'
'To meet?'
'There are circumstances when men will not accept apologies; they—we— heaven knows, I was ready to do all that a man could do to avoid this folly—wickedness; give it the worst of titles!'
'It did not occur accidentally?' she inquired. Her voice sounded strange, half withheld in the utterance.
'It occurred,' said I, feeling my strength ebb and despair set in, 'it occurred—the prince compelled me to the meet him.'
'But my cousin Otto is no assassin?