"Why could you not help it?"
"Paul, you know!" she said.
He thought his heart would have burst; the excitement of the moment was too great. His head whirled with a mad wonder, and yet he would not have exchanged places with a king. The prison cell seemed like a palace; that second of joy more than atoned for all he had suffered.
"Mary!" he cried, "do you mean that? You know what is in my heart. You know what for months I have been afraid to tell you. You must have known! Why, it has been like fire in my brain; it has been the great passion of my heart. You knew it when we were in London together, even before I told you, didn't you?"
She nodded her head, and Paul saw that her eyes were brimming with tears.
"And you cared enough to come and see me?" he said.
"I could not help coming, Paul," was her reply. "How could I, when I knew that you were alone, and that you needed me?"
"But you must go away," he said. "It's heaven to have you near, but you must go away. No one must know. Why, think of what the world would say!"
"As though I care what the world says," was her reply. "As a matter of fact, I obtained admission to you without difficulty, and I do not think anyone knows who I am. You see, I have means unknown to other people. But I do not care who knows. Why should I care? I came to you because I—I—— But you know, Paul! You know!"
"And you came to tell me that?" he said.