Lensky did not move.
"Go!" said she, severely; and her hand no longer trembled, and her gesture was more imperious, more proud.
Instead of obeying her command, he sank down at her feet and covered the hem of her dress with kisses. "I have sinned against you," he said; "yes, but if you knew how furious I am with myself, and how little my heart was concerned in the affair, you would pardon me. You will not certainly be jealous of something that is quite beneath one's notice; one does not always think immediately what one is doing." He shrugged his shoulders impatiently. "For this reason you are still the only woman in the world for me. Really, my angel, it is not worth the pains that you should torment yourself!" He took her hand in his.
But she started back from his touch. "Leave me!" said she, violently. "All is at an end between us--go!"
For the first time he comprehended the gravity of the situation. "All at an end--" he murmured, while he rose. "What do you mean?"
"That I will no longer bear to be under the same roof with you; that I will go back to my mother; that I insist upon a separation--that is what I mean. Did you, then, expect anything different?"
He clutched his forehead. "A separation! but that is impossible!" he gasped. "A separation--the children!"
She started. "Yes--the children!" murmured she, dully, inconsolably; "the children!" And with a bitter smile she looked down on her preparations for the journey, on the trunks, the effects lying about.
Then he once more stepped up to her. "You see that the bond between us can never more be broken," said he, gently. "You cannot go!"
"No!" said she harshly. "No, I cannot go--not even that consolation remains to me. As the mother of your children I must remain under your roof. But in everything else between me and you all is at an end. Go!"