“Do you say I did that?”
“Yes. If still you do not believe me, measure your fingers with the shadow they have cast.”
She reached out her hand to him, and he took it in his left, stroking the bruised wrist with his right, but looking into her eyes all the while.
“Frances, is it this secret that stood between us?”
“Yes.”
“Is this all that stood between us?”
“All! Is it not enough? All! It is a mountain of sin that bears me to the very ground.”
“Why, dear lass, did you not tell me?”
“Tell you? It was from you, of all the world, I must conceal it until now.”
He laughed very quietly, fondling her hand.