"And you receive him here?"
"I cannot help it. My hands are tied."
"How are they tied?"
"You have already said."
"Yes? How?"
"He is a nihilist. He does not know that I am aware of all his foulness and villainy. He has been assured that I do not know it! And"—here she leaped to her feet and confronted me like an enraged tigress—"he has the effrontery to pretend that he is in love with me, and to believe that I can love him. Pah!"
"And you?" I asked.
"I?"
She crossed the room, but turned and retraced her steps, reseating herself upon the couch. She was smiling now. Her composure had returned though she was still pale, and there were deep rings under her eyes which told of the suffering she had undergone.
"Until you came I had thought that I would marry him," said she, calmly. I was more utterly amazed than I could have supposed possible.