“Only go on loving me, and forgive me,” she said desperately.
“But I do,” he cried, puzzled. “It’s just hell for me to leave you. But I can’t help it, my dear. My hand has been forced. It’s even harder to leave you than it was twenty years ago. I love you and want you more than ever I did in my life.”
“So do I,” she said, in a shaking voice. “That’s why I’m here, at half-past two in the morning.”
Baltazar uttered a great triumphant cry and clasped her in his arms.
“My God,” said he, “I’ve won after all!”
He held her at arm’s length and looked at her exultantly. Thank Heaven she had no suspicion of his sense of downfall. Not Pity, but Love at last awakened, had brought her to him.
“Yes,” he repeated. “I’ve won after all.”
After a while, when he had almost forgotten his words, she asked him:
“What did you think you had lost?”
“My faith in my destiny. The star of Baltazar. Once upon a time the original bearer of my name, with the others, had faith in a star, and he followed it and found God.”