"A single circumstance. Once upon a time, you, a girl like me, abandoned your home, and eloped with a man you loved, a nobody, a poor obscure nobody. Then you deceived me, Cesare, and everybody else. By that elopement you dishonoured the graves of your father and mother, and you dishonoured your name which is also mine."
"Oh, heavens, heavens, heavens!" cried Anna.
"You passed a whole day out of Naples, in an inn at Pompeii, alone the whole day with a man you loved, in a private room."
"I wasn't Giustino Morelli's mistress."
"Exactly. Nor am I Cesare Dias'."
"I wasn't Giustino Morelli's mistress," repeated Anna.
"I wasn't behind the door, as you were, to see the truth."
"Oh, cruel, wicked sister—cruel and wicked!"
"And please to have the fairness to remember that on that day Cesare Dias rushed to your rescue. In charity, without saying a word to reproach you, he brought you back to the home you had deserted. In charity, without insulting you, I opened my arms to welcome you. In charity we nursed you through your long illness, and never once did we reproach you. You see, you see, you're unjust and ungrateful."
"But you have wounded me in my love, Laura. But I adore Cesare, and I am horribly jealous of him. I can't banish the thought of your love for him; I can remember nothing but your kisses. I feel as if I were going mad. Oh, Laura, Laura, you who were so pure and beautiful, you who are worthy of a young man's love, why do you throw away your life and your honour for Cesare?"