I stood facing her. We remained silent for a
long time; her large eyes, full of unutterable
grief, seemed to be searching in mine for some-
thing resembling hope; her wan lips vainly en-
deavoured to smile; her tender hands, which
were folded upon her knees, were so thin and
transparent that I pitied her.

"Princess," I said, "you know that I have
been making fun of you? . . . You must despise
me."

A sickly flush suffused her cheeks.

"Consequently," I continued, "you cannot
love me" . . .

She turned her head away, leaned her elbows
on the table, covered her eyes with her hand, and
it seemed to me that she was on the point of
tears.

"Oh, God!" she said, almost inaudibly.

The situation was growing intolerable. Another
minute -- and I should have fallen at her feet.

"So you see, yourself," I said in as firm a voice
as I could command, and with a forced smile,
"you see, yourself, that I cannot marry you.