"That was a regretful sigh, as if I were not worth the sacrifice. Let us
go back and enjoy it together."

"If you were dying for it, I would not take you to Cuba. It would be
purgatory, not paradise, now."

"How stern you look, how strangely you speak. Would you not go to save
your own life, Gilbert?"

"I would not cross the room to do that, much less the sea."

"Why do you both love and dread it? Don't frown, but tell me. I have a
right to know."

"Because the bitterest blunder of my life was committed there--a blunder
that I never can repair in this world, and may be damned for in the
next. Rest satisfied with this, Babie, lest you prove like Bluebeard's
wife, and make another skeleton in my closet, which has enough already."

Strange regret was in his voice, strange gloom fell upon his face; but
though rendered doubly curious by the change, Mrs. Redmond dared not
question further and, standing silent, furtively scanned the troubled
countenance beside her. Gilbert spoke first, waking out of his sorrowful
reverie with a start.

"Pauline is coming. Say adieu, not au revoir, for tomorrow we must leave
this place."

His words were a command, his aspect one of stern resolve, though the