"Why speak of what is past?"

"You see, if I had remained with you I should have been no happier,"
said Bella, reflectively; "you expected too much from me."

"I did my best to make you happy."

"Yes, perhaps! then if I had been more grateful and different, would
you be glad if I was with you still?"

"I cannot answer that question. I loved you--I had no thought for any
human being outside yourself."

"But now," she persisted, "now that the wound is old, do you not say
to yourself, 'it was better so'? Suppose that you and I were still
what we were once to each other, would you be happy to know that I
was your wife to-day?"

"I beg you to be silent. It is impossible that we can discuss such a
question."

She came close to his chair.

"I am," she said with a sort of feverish eagerness, "no more of a
lady now than I was then. I am just what I used to be when I made you
ashamed of my ignorance and my mistakes. But if I were pure, if I had
never been divorced, if I were standing here your faithful wife,
would you be glad?"