But I let him see plainly that it was impossible for him to
enter our family with such a past behind him. He asserted his
innocence of the charges against him, and declared that he had been
unjustly accused and imprisoned. I am afraid that I was hard
towards him. I begin to understand now, as I never thought I
should, what it means to be accused of crime. I begin to realise
that it is possible for every evidence to point to a man who is
absolutely innocent of the deed in question. I begin to think now
that John may have been right, that possibly he also may have been
accused and sentenced on circumstantial evidence alone. I have
thought much, and I have learned much in these terrible days."
The prisoner paused again and sat brooding, his eyes looking out
into space. Muller respected his suffering and sat in equal
silence, until Graumann raised his eyes to his again. "Then came
the evening of the 23rd of September?"
"Yes, that evening--it's all like a dream to me." Graumann began
again. "John wrote me a letter asking me to come to see him on that
evening. I tore up the letter and threw it away--or perhaps, yes,
I remember now, I did not wish Eleonora to see that he had written
me. He asked me to come to see him, as he had something to say to
me, something of the greatest importance for us both. He asked me
not to mention to any one that I was to see him, as it would be
wiser no one should know that we were still in communication with
each other.
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