"There is no fault in any one; neither could I help it," she murmured.
"No, no; it is not that there is any fault in the ordinary sense; it is like suicide or any other great, self-inflicted injury with me. I am different from other men. I shall never recover."
"I know only too well that you are different from other men, and--and I, too, am different from other women--am I not?"
"Ah, different! There is no other woman in all this wide, long world," and they were in each other's arms again. She turned her shoulder to him and rested with the support of his arms about her. Her eyes were cast down in silence, and she was evidently thinking as she toyed with the lace of his doublet. Brandon knew her varying expressions so well that he saw there was something wanting, so he asked:
"Not I," she responded with emphasis on the pronoun.
"Then is it something you wish me to say?"
"Did you not like to hear me say that--that I--loved you?"
"Ah, yes; you know it. But--oh!--do you wish to hear me say it?"
The head nodded rapidly two or three times: "Yes." And the black curving lashes were lifted for a fleeting, luminous instant.
"It is surely not necessary; you have known it so long already, but I am only too glad to say it. I love you."
She nestled closer to him and hid her face on his breast.
"Now that I have said it, what is my reward?" he asked--and the fair face came up, red and rosy, with "rewards," any one of which was worth a king's ransom.
"But this is worse than insanity," cried Brandon, as he almost pushed her from him. "We can never belong to each other; never."
"No," said Mary, with a despairing shake of the head, as the tears began to flow again; "no! never." And falling upon his knees, he caught both her hands in his, sprang to his feet and ran from the room.
Her words showed him the chasm anew. She saw the distance between them even better than he. Evidently it seemed farther looking down than looking up. There was nothing left now but flight.
He sought refuge in his own apartments and wildly walked the floor, exclaiming, "Fool! fool that I am to lay up this store of agony to last me all my days. Why did I ever come to this court? God pity me--pity me!" And he fell upon his knees at the bed, burying his face in his arms, his mighty man's frame shaking as with a palsy.