"Would it be right for me to marry a young girl whom I do not love, when all my soul is yours?"
"Still," said she, shuddering, "our love is a sin before God and man."
"Why did you not tell me so when I first knew you? Then, perhaps, I might not have loved you."
Milena's head sank down on her bosom, her eyes filled with tears, there was a low sound in her throat. Then, in a voice choking with sobs, she said:
"You are right, Uros; I was to blame, very much to blame. I was as thoughtless as a child; in fact, I was a child, and I only wanted to be amused. But since then I have grown so old. Lying ill in bed, almost dying, I was obliged to think of all the foolish things I said and did, so——"
"So you do not love me any more," he said, abruptly; but seeing the look of sorrow which shadowed Milena's face, he added: "My heart, forgive me; it is only my love for you that makes me so peevish. When you ask me to forget you——"
"And still you must try and do so. The young girl your father has chosen for you——"
"Loves some one else," interrupted Uros.
Milena looked up with an expression of joy she vainly tried to control. The young man thereupon told her the mistake which had taken place, and all that had happened the last time he and his friend had been at Zara.
"Giulianic has taken a solemn oath that I shall never marry his daughter, and as Milenko is in love with her, I hope my father will release his friend from the promise——"