“You mean that a man’s trust holds good under any circumstances, whereas a woman’s trust will obviously fail before the first difficulty?” she demanded.
“I did not mean that,” cried Antony hotly.
“No?” she queried mockingly.
“It was not, on my part, a question of trust alone,” said Antony deliberately. He looked straight at her as he spoke the words.
The Duchessa dropped her eyes. A crimson colour tinged her cheeks, crept upwards to her forehead.
There was a dead silence. Then——
“Will you help me to re-build the foundation?” asked the Duchessa.
“It was never destroyed,” said Antony.
“Mine was,” she replied steadily. “Will you forgive me?”
“There can be no question of forgiveness,” he replied hoarsely.