She broke from him, to hide her weeping.
"Have you thought of the forfeit?" she faltered after a time.
"I would not forego the doom!—You alone are my light in this dark country of the world. Do not stifle the voice in your heart with reasons—"
"Reasons! Reasons!" she interrupted. "What does the heart know of reasons! Mine has long forgotten their pleadings—else, were I here?"
Something in her voice and gesture was like a lightning flash over a dark landscape. In an instant he saw the pit at his feet.
"What then," he faltered, "is this to lead to?"
"Some one has been with you," she said quickly. "These words were not yours."
He rallied with a fault smile.
"A pretext for not heeding them."
"Eckhardt has been with you! He has maligned me to you!"