She interrupted him.
"This is scarcely a time to answer questions," she said, with a half scornful, half melancholy smile, "which I have already forgotten."
"But I have not forgotten them, and I must give an answer."
She made a movement of refusal. Without heeding it, he asked:--
"Do you believe my word when I give it you as a nobleman?"
She raised her eyes to his face, and said, "Yes."
"I thank you for your trust in me, Countess Clara," he said. "I give you my word of honour I am free--free as the air and light, from every chain."
An expression of joyful surprise passed over her face.
"I do not understand you," she said in a low voice.
"Yes, Countess Clara, you understand me," he cried vehemently, "though I have not told the whole truth. I am free from a fetter which was unworthy; but I seek a chain to bind me for ever to my happiness--a chain that I can wear without a blush."