A constrained silence reigned for some moments.
"Frank," exclaimed she, in a very calm tone, advancing slowly and taking
my hand, "at last we are alone."
"Yes, Vera," I replied, calling to my aid all my coolness to feign a
serenity which I was far from possessing. "Now, perhaps, you will let
me know this secret of yours which has so long estranged us, and brought
us all this sorrow."
She stood motionless, with compressed lips, and shivering slightly,
said,--
"Forgive me! Frank, forgive me! I will tell you everything. You shall
know the truth; believe me."
"Why did you not tell me the truth long ago; then this degrading trial
would have been avoided," I said, bitterly.
"Because I could not, until this afternoon."
"Not when my life was at stake?"