"Do you adore this woman?"
"I adored her ten years ago. Now I adore her no more; but I am hers for ever."
"Then you love her very much?"
"I loved her with an ardent love. Now I no longer love her; but I am her slave."
"Does she love you?"
"She did adore and love me; but now no longer. Though without me she could not live."
"Are you sure?"
"I am sure. Beatrice Herz would prefer death to being deserted."
"But why?" exclaimed the Englishwoman, moved at last.
"Because we committed the sin of adultery."