eak: she
knew that if she had not removed them then they would have been shaken
off. He could see them amongst the folds of black lace at her
breast--clutching, tearing, as if she had not room to breathe.

"Your wife!" she said, with a gasp. "I did not know.... She has been
beforehand with me, then! And it is she--she--that you will take--to
Spain?"

"There is no question of Spain. I mean to stay here in England and fight
the matter out. My wife would be the first person to tell me so. I
cannot imagine her speaking to me again if I were coward enough to run
away."

"She would not do for you what I have done!" cried the unhappy woman,
now, as it seemed, beside herself. "If she believes you innocent, so
much the easier for her! But I--I--believe you guilty--yes, Caspar
Brooke, I believe that you killed my brother--and I do not care! I loved
him, yes; but I love you--_you_--a thousand times more!"

"You do not know what you are saying. You are mad. Be silent, Rosalind,"
said Caspar Brooke, in a deep tone of anger. But she raved on.

"Have I not been silent for years? And who is as faithful to you as I
have been? It is easy to love a man who is innocent; but not a man who
is guilty! Guilty or not--I do not care. It is you that I care for--and
you may have as many sins as you please upon your soul--but they are
nothing to me. I am past anything now but speaking the truth. Have you
no pity for a woman to whom you are dearer than her own soul?"

She would have thrown herself at his feet, if he had not prevented her.
He was touched a little by her suffering, but he was also immeasurably
angered and disgusted. An exhibition of uncontrolled feeling was not the
way to charm him. His one desire now became the desire to escape.

"I should have no pity," he said, gravely, "for my own selfishness and
cowardice, if I took advantage of this moment of weakness on your part.
It _is_ weakness, I hope--I will not call it by any other name. You will
recover from it when the stress of this painful time is over, and you
will be glad to forget it as I shall do. Believe me, I will not think of
it again. It shall be in my mind as though you had not said it; and,
though it will be impossible for us to continue on our former terms of
friendship, I shall always wish for your welfare, and hope that time
will bring you happiness and peace."

She made no answer. She lay where he had placed her, her head buried
amongst the cushions, crushed to