She stopped, biting her lip. Berny saw that she was unable to command her voice, though she had no appearance of tears. Her face looked quite different from what it had at the beginning of the interview. All its amiable, rosy softness was gone. The elder woman was too astounded to say anything. She had a feeling that, just for that moment, nothing could be said. She was silenced by something that she did not understand. Like an amazed child she stared at Rose, baffled, confused, a little awed. After a minute of silence, the young girl went on.
“I can’t talk about it. I don’t altogether understand. Other people—they must explain. I’ve been—no, not deceived—but kept in the dark. But be sure of one thing, yesterday was the end of it. They’ll never—no one that I have any power over—will ever make you such offers again. I’ll promise you that. I don’t know how it could have happened. There’s been a mistake, a horrible, unforgivable mistake. You’ve been wronged and insulted, and I’m sorry, sorry and humiliated and ashamed. There are no words——”
She stopped again with a gesture of helpless indignation and disgust, and rose to her feet. Berny, through the darkness of her stunned astonishment, realized that she was shaken by feelings she could not express.
“You didn’t know anything about it then?” the wife said sullenly, wanting still to be defiant and finding all her defiance overwhelmed by an invading sensation of feeling small, mean and contemptible.
“Know it?” said the girl, letting a glance of scorn touch the questioner. “Know it and let it go on? But I suppose you’ve a right to ask me such a question.”
“I guess I have,” said Berny, but her voice did not have any assurance of her conviction on the subject. It sounded flat and spiritless.
“You have. You seem to me to have a right to say anything savage and angry and insulting. And I can only say to you I’m sorry, I’m sorry, and I ask your pardon—for me and for the others. And that doesn’t make it any easier for you to bear, or do you any good.”
Berny swallowed dryly and said,
“No, it doesn’t.”
“All I can do now is to promise you that it stops to-day and for ever. You’ll never be bothered again by anything of the kind. You can go back to your home and feel that never again will any one belonging to me try to come between you and your husband. I can’t say any more. I can’t talk about it. Good-by.”