“Please—please—answer me,” she said. “I would much rather know the truth. There is no longer any hope, is there?”
“What! But it’s getting dark.”
“But not quickly enough. And when the night does come we shall be none the more able to get away.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. But I have a feeling that it is all over with us; and that you know it.”
He said firmly: “No—no. The danger is great. But it’s a long way off as yet. We shall escape it, if we keep cool. Everything rests on that. Thought and understanding. When I understand everything, I’m sure that there will be time to act. Only——”
“Only?”
“You must help me. To understand everything I need your memories, all your memories.”
His voice had grown serious; he went on with restrained fervor: “I know you promised your mother to keep them secret from every one except the man you should come to love. But death is an even stronger reason for speaking than love. And if you do not love me, I love you as your mother would have wished that you should be loved. Forgive me for telling you this in spite of the vow I made to you; but there are times at which one can keep silent no longer. I love you—I [[282]]love you and I wish to save you—I love you. I cannot allow you to keep silent, for it would be a crime against yourself. Answer my questions. Perhaps a few words will be enough to enlighten me.”
“Question me,” she murmured.