"One cannot break faith with the dead," I answered. "That is amongst the
impossible things. Let us speak no more of it."
She leaned towards me. Her breath was upon my cheek, and her eyes shone
into mine.
"Men have done more than this," she murmured, "when a woman has
pleaded--and--it is for your own sake. Think! Must I count you amongst
my enemies?"
"God only knows why you should," I answered. "I am no judge of others;
but if I betrayed the trust of a dead man, even for the sake of the woman
I loved, I should put a bullet in my brain sooner or later. What I cannot
understand, dear, is why you are not on my side. You are practically an
Englishwoman. What have you to do with Leslie Guest's enemies?"
She turned away sadly.
"There are some things," she said, "which cannot be altered. You and I
are on opposite sides. We may as well say good-bye. We shall never meet
again like this."
"I cannot believe it," I answered. "There are many things which seem dark
enough in the future to me, but I shall never believe that this is our
good-bye.
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