"
"You are the most generous woman I ever knew!" I exclaimed.
She looked at me intently. "You also are generous," she said.
I stiffened instantly, suspecting a purpose behind her praise. "I
have given you small proof of it!" I said.
She seemed surprised. "In bringing me this letter? What else could
you do?" She sighed deeply. "You can give me proof enough now."
She had dropped into a chair, and I saw that we had reached the most
difficult point in our interview.
"Captain Alingdon," she said, "does any one else know of this
letter?"
"No. I was alone in the archives when I found it."
"And you spoke of it to no one?"
"To no one."
"Then no one must know."
I bowed. "It is for you to decide."
She paused. "Not even my mother," she continued, with a painful
blush.
I looked at her in amazement. "Not even--?"
She shook her head sadly. "You think me a cruel daughter? Well--_he_
was a cruel friend. What he did was done for Italy: shall I allow
myself to be surpassed?"
I felt a pang of commiseration for the mother. "But you will at
least tell the Countess--"
Her eyes filled with tears. "My poor mother--don't make it more
difficult for me!"
"But I don't understand--"
"Don't you see that she might find it impossible to forgive him? She
has suffered so much! And I can't risk that--for in her anger she
might speak. And even if she forgave him, she might be tempted to
show the letter. Don't you see that, even now, a word of this might
ruin him? I will trust his fate to no one.
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