"I think there is nothing more to be said," he observed, looking Frau von Arnim coldly in the face. "It seems I have blundered, and it is only right that I should bear the brunt of the consequences alone. I am sure you will agree with me that it will be best for this—what has passed between us—to be kept entirely to ourselves, to be forgotten. It can only bring trouble to others, and, as I have said, I am alone to blame." In spite of everything, he was thinking of Nora, seeking to shield her from the results of his betrayal of a cruel duplicity. Frau von Arnim was thinking of Wolff, and of the woman to whom he had entrusted his happiness—above all things, their name. "What you suggest is impossible," she said. "There are things one cannot forget—at least not until they have been explained. We must therefore look for the explanation." "I have none to give," Arnold returned, with bitter truth. "Then we must look elsewhere." "It would be better to do as I suggest, and leave the matter alone, or lay it to my account—to my own stupid muddle." He spoke hurriedly, for he felt afraid of this woman, with her haughty, resolute face. It was as though, unwittingly, he had roused to action a force which had passed out of his control. "If there is any shadow of wrong connected with my nephew’s marriage, it must be cleared," Frau von Arnim answered. "That is the only wisdom I know." Arnold bowed a second time, and went. For a long time after he had gone the two women remained silent, motionless, avoiding each other’s eyes. The action seemed to imply that nothing had happened. Hildegarde had long since fallen wearily back upon her couch. She roused herself then, and turned her white, troubled face towards her mother. "The man must be mad!" she said, almost violently. "Nora could never have done such a thing. She is so frank and honest. She would have told us from the beginning. I could have sworn that she never cared for a man before she loved Wolff. I do not believe a word of it." "Nor I," her mother answered calmly. "As you say, the man may be mad—though he did not seem so—or there may really be some mistake. But we must make sure, for our own peace of mind, and Nora is the only one who can help us. Even so we must have patience and wait. We have no right to trouble her so early in her married life with what, I pray, may be a false alarm." "You must ask her when we are in Berlin," Hildegarde said, in the same sharp, determined tone. "I could not see her every day like that and not know." "You are quite right. When we are settled in Berlin I will tell her everything that has happened. Until then we must believe the best." "Yes, of course—believe the best," Hildegarde answered thoughtfully. *CHAPTER V* *THE CUB AS LION*