"Herbert," she faltered.... "Herbert, I--I never knew till now that you could be so grand and strong! What kept me from loving you was your own love for _me_. It seemed to make you weak; it seemed to put you below me. You were always yielding to me--always paying me reverence. But _I_ should have bowed before _you_. You were worthy of it, and I did not see ... I never saw till now!... Herbert, _I love you_!... Oh, these are not idle words! They spring straight from my soul! If you want the repentance of my future life, it is yours! Why did you not show me your real self till so late? What shall I do to prove my love? You must not pardon me so easily--no, I cannot endure that! It makes me sick with shame to be treated so! Such a mercy would be cruelty. You must punish me, somehow--I must undergo some penance, the harder the better. You have no right to trust me again until I have passed through some sort of cleansing fire--suffered, been mortified, humiliated, taught a stern and fearful lesson! You gave me everything; there was nothing in the world I did not owe to you; you lifted me from dependence into the most brilliant prosperity. And I--Good Heavens! I was a viper of ingratitude! I might call it madness; I might say that the lust for riches and power made me conceive this treacherous and contemptible idea of deserting you--made me decide that we could not live together when the wealth had gone. But it was no madness--there was too clear a method in it for that. It was merely base and mean--it can have no palliative.... Herbert, don't look at me with any love, any pity in your face. I can't bear it--I--I want to creep away somewhere and die. I am not fit to have you touch me--No, no! you _must_ not!" ... She had receded from him; she meant to quit the room, though her limbs felt weak and her head giddy, and she was not sure whether she could reach the doorway without falling. But on a sudden his arms clasped her. How strong they seemed! She had never till now had so keen a sense of even his bodily strength. When his lips touched her own she burst into tears. She was still struggling to free herself, but he held her too firmly; she could not escape.