"I am sure of that, but you see what has fallen out to-night."
"O, forgive me, and let me go! My lot is bitter enough for what has happened, without reproaches for something that has not occurred. You have not married again? Have you?"
He shook his head, and said with a mournful smile, "No. I have not married again. Well, let that pass. Let that pass. Mentioning it helps me to clear up matters--enables me to see my way."
"May I go now?"
"Not yet. Stay awhile."
"I would rather be in the river than here."
"So would I; but I must not go, for many reasons. There is the child, for example, to go no Higher."
"But I can be of no use to the child. Your coldness is killing me. Why don't you rage at me or let me go? Are you a man of stone? or do you take me for a woman of stone?" she cried passionately, writhing on her chair.
He waved her outburst aside with a gentle gesture. "Nothing can be gained by heat or haste."
"Let me say good-bye to my child and go," she cried vehemently.