“Oh, you have ruined my life!” cried Oswald with wild emphasis, falling into a chair near the table and bowing his head upon his hand. Then he rose from his seat and began to pace from one side of the room to the other.
“This is the truth, the pure truth,” affirmed Esther. “And I wanted you to know it, to hear it in her presence, so that she could deny nothing. She made my life unhappy, but she shall not enjoy her perfidy in peace.”
“You have ruined my life!” repeated Oswald in his emphatic tone.
“She. It was she.”
“I’ll kill you!” howled Fanny in a hoarse voice, seizing Esther by the arms.
“But you know now that what she told you about me was a lie, don’t you?” asked Oswald.
“Yes.”
“Then, will you listen to me now?”
“Now? Ha, ha!” laughed Fanny. “Now she has a lover.”
“Not at all!” cried Esther.