" She threw up her hands. "But
I've left him--I've left him, for ever."
Now the Duchess had her in her arms, and almost forcibly drew her to a
sofa. "Darling, my darling," she said, "you must not give way. It is not
so bad as you think. You must let me help to make you understand."
Hylda laughed hysterically. "Not so bad as I think! Read--read it," she
said, taking the letter from the Duchess's fingers and holding it before
her face. "I found it on the staircase. I could not help but read it."
She sat and clasped and unclasped her hands in utter misery. "Oh, the
shame of it, the bitter shame of it! Have I not been a good wife to him?
Have I not had reason to break my heart? But I waited, and I wanted to be
good and to do right. And to-night I was going to try once more--I felt
it in the opera. I was going to make one last effort for his sake. It was
for his sake I meant to make it, for I thought him only hard and selfish,
and that he had never loved; and if he only loved, I thought--"
She broke off, wringing her hands and staring into space, the ghost of
the beautiful figure that had left the Opera House with shining eyes.
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