He: “Oh, I acknowledge it! I confess it.”
She: “And you own that I am right in refusing to listen to you now?”
He, desolately: “Yes, yes.”
She: “It seems that you gave me lessons in order to be with me, and if possible to interest me in you; and then you were going away without a word.”
He, with a groan: “It was only because I was afraid to speak.”
She: “Oh, is that any excuse?”
He: “No; none.”
She: “A man ought always to have courage.” After a pause, in which he stands before her with bowed head: “Then there’s nothing for me but to give you this money.”
He, with sudden energy: “This is too much! I”—
She, offering him the bank-notes: “No; it is the exact sum. I counted it very carefully.”