‚ÄúWhat it meant!‚ÅÝ‚Äîwhat it meant!‚Äù he repeated in the low, tense anguish.
‚ÄúBut‚ÅÝ‚Äîbut, Bles‚ÅÝ‚Äî‚Äù She faltered; there came an awful pleading in her eyes; her hand groped toward him; but he stepped slowly back‚ÅÝ‚Äî‚ÄúBut, Bles‚ÅÝ‚Äîyou said‚ÅÝ‚Äîwillingly‚ÅÝ‚Äîyou said‚ÅÝ‚Äîif‚ÅÝ‚Äîif she knew‚ÅÝ‚Äî‚Äù
He thundered back in livid anger:
“Knew! All women know! You should have died !”
Sobs were rising and shaking her from head to foot, but she drove them back and gripped her breasts with her hands.
‚ÄúNo, Bles‚ÅÝ‚Äîno‚ÅÝ‚Äîall girls do not know. I was a child. Not since I knew you, Bles‚ÅÝ‚Äînever, never since I saw you.‚Äù
‚ÄúSince‚ÅÝ‚Äîsince,‚Äù he groaned‚ÅÝ‚Äî‚ÄúChrist! But before?‚Äù
“Yes, before.”
“My God!”
She knew the end had come. Yet she babbled on tremblingly:
‚ÄúHe was our master, and all the other girls that gathered there did his will; I‚ÅÝ‚ÄîI‚ÅÝ‚Äî‚Äù she choked and faltered, and he drew farther away‚ÅÝ‚Äî‚ÄúI began running away, and they hunted me through the swamps. And then‚ÅÝ‚Äîthen I reckon I‚Äôd have gone back and been‚ÅÝ‚Äîas they all are‚ÅÝ‚Äîbut you came, Bles‚ÅÝ‚Äîyou came, and you‚ÅÝ‚Äîyou were a new great thing in my life, and‚ÅÝ‚Äîand‚ÅÝ‚Äîyet, I was afraid I was not worthy until you‚ÅÝ‚Äîyou said the words. I thought you knew, and I thought that‚ÅÝ‚Äîthat purity was just wanting to be pure.‚Äù