“And I do speak that word, and your own heart answers me in spite of you, and you will forget⁠—forget everything of unhappiness in your life⁠—”

“Please, please,” she entreated, breathlessly. Then, taking the leap: “Ah, I love you, I love you!”

“⁠—Forget all your unhappiness,” he went on, holding her close to him. “Forget the one great mistake we both made. Forget everything, everything, everything but that we love each other.”

“Don’t let me think, then,” she cried. “Don’t let me think. Make me forget everything, every little hour, every little moment that has passed before this day. Oh, if I remembered once, I would kill you, kill you with my hands! I don’t know what I am saying,” she moaned, “I don’t know what I am saying. I am mad, I think. Yes⁠—I⁠—it must be that.” She pulled back from him, looking into his face with wide-opened eyes.

“What have I said, what have we done, what are you here for?”