"Isn't that so, Helena? Isn't it?"
With her lips still firmly compressed she made the same silent motion of her head.
"Is that what you came here to do?"
"Yes."
"To possess yourself of his secrets and then——?"
"There was no other way," she answered, biting her under-lip.
"Helena! Can it be possible that you have deliberately——"
He stopped, as if afraid to utter the word that was trembling on his tongue, and then said in a softer voice—
"But why, Helena? Why?"
The spirit of defiance took possession of her again, and she said—