" She burst out violently: "I believe you wrote to him to come to
Paris."
"My dear Gora! Keep your imagination for your fiction. I had forgotten his
existence until I saw him, for a few seconds, at a reception. Don't forget
that he came to Paris under orders from his Government."
"But you recognized him that night. You came down here to meet him, to get
away from me."
"Far from coming here to meet him I had given up all hope of ever seeing
him again. He found out my address and followed me. You also seem to forget
that you never mentioned his name to me in Paris. How was I to know that
you were still interested in him?"
"That first night...you guessed it...you threw down a sort of challenge.
Deny that if you can!"
"No! I'll not deny it. I wanted him as badly as you did if with less
reason. Nevertheless...believe it or not as you like...I came down here
as much to leave the field clear to you as for my own peace of mind. I
think...I fancy...I decided to leave the matter on the knees of the gods."
"Do you mean to tell me that if I had met him while we were together in
Paris, and you knew the truth, that you would not have tried to win him
away from me?"
"I wonder! I have asked myself that question several times. I like to
think that I should have been noble, and withdrawn. But I am not at all
sure....Yes, I do believe I should, not from noble unselfishness, oh, not
by a long sight, but from pride--if I saw that he was really in love with
you.
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