power and love," she added in a
low voice.

"That!" said Almayer, pointing his finger at Dain standing close by and
looking at them in curious wonder.

"Yes, that!" she replied, looking her father full in the face and
noticing for the first time with a slight gasp of fear the unnatural
rigidity of his features.

"I would have rather strangled you with my own hands," said Almayer, in
an expressionless voice which was such a contrast to the desperate
bitterness of his feelings that it surprised even himself. He asked
himself who spoke, and, after looking slowly round as if expecting to see
somebody, turned again his eyes towards the sea.

"You say that because you do not understand the meaning of my words," she
said sadly. "Between you and my mother there never was any love. When I
returned to Sambir I found the place which I thought would be a peaceful
refuge for my heart, filled with weariness and hatred--and mutual
contempt. I have listened to your voice and to her voice. Then I saw
that you could not understand me; for was I not part of that woman? Of
her who was the regret and shame of your life? I had to choose--I
hesitated. Why were you so blind? Did you not see me struggling before
your eyes? But, when he came, all doubt disappeared, and I saw only the
light of the blue and cloudless heaven--"

"I will tell you the rest," interrupted Almayer: "when that man came I
also saw the blue and the sunshine of the sky. A thunderbolt has fallen
from that sky, and suddenly all is still and dark around me for ever. I
will never forgive you, Nina; and to-morrow I shall forget you! I shall
never forgive you," he repeated with mechanical obstinacy while she sat,
her head bowed down as if afraid to look at her father.

To him it seemed of the utmost importance that he should assure her of
his intention of never forgiving. He was convinced that his faith in her
had been the foundation of his hopes, the motive of his courage, of his
determination to live and struggle, and to be victorious for her sake.
And now his faith was gone, destroyed by her own hands; destroyed
cruelly, treacherously, in the dark; in the very moment of success. In
the utter wreck of his affections and of all his feelings, in the chaotic
disorder of his thoughts, above the confused sensation of physical pain
that wrapped him up in a sting as of a whiplash curling round him from
his shoulders down to his feet, only one idea remained clear