"Yes."
"A sin?"
I tried to say "Yes" again, but my reply died in my throat.
There was another moment of silence and then, in a faltering voice that nearly broke me down, he said:
"In that case there is nothing more to say. . . . There isn't, is there?"
I made an effort to speak, but my voice would not come.
"I thought . . . as there was no other way of escape from this terrible marriage . . . but if you think . . ."
He stopped, and then coming closer he said:
"I suppose you know what this means for you, Mary—that after all the degradation you have gone through you are shutting the door to a worthier, purer life, and that . . ."
I could bear no more. My heart was yearning for him, yet I was compelled to speak.