He discovered the secret I had wasted away in searching for, and you rewarded him.  Oh, I saw the change in you quickly enough, and if I’d been a man instead of what I was, I’d have—­but I wasn’t.  I went spying around like a woman, hating myself for permitting it to go on, but lacking strength to stop it.  But to-night, when he got up before those other men and dangled my shame before my eyes, I had enough manhood left in me to strike back.  Thank God for that at least!  Maybe it’s not too late yet; maybe if I get away from you and try—­” His voice died out weakly; in his face there was a miserable half-gleam of hope.

“I never knew you felt like that.  I never knew you could feel that way,” she said, in a colorless voice.  “But you made a terrible mistake.”

“Do you mean to say you don’t love him?”

“No, I have loved him for a long time—­I can’t remember when it began.”  She spoke very listlessly, looking past him as if at a long-familiar picture which she was tired of contemplating.  “I never knew what love was before; I never even dreamed.  I’d give my life right now—­to undo what you have done, just for his sake, for he is innocent.  Oh, don’t sneer; it’s true.  He loves the Garavel girl, and wants to marry her.”

“I know all that.  I overheard you in the parlor below.”

“Listen, please!  I don’t remember what I said then, and it doesn’t matter; you took too much for granted.  We must talk plainly now, before”—­she pressed her palms to her temples as if they were bursting—­“before it becomes impossible.  I never lied to you, Stephen.  Is that true?”

“I used to think so.”

“I’m going to tell you the whole truth now without sparing myself.  It began, I think, at Taboga, that night when he kissed me.  It was the only time he ever did such a thing.  It was dark, we were alone, I was frightened, and it was purely impulse on his part.  But it woke me up, and all at once I knew how much he meant to me.  I would have yielded utterly to him then if he had let me, but he was panic-stricken.  He spoke of you, he apologized; I never saw a man in more misery.  When I had time to realize the truth I tried to fight it off.  But it was no use, and at last I gave up.  After that I put myself in his way deliberately.  I offered him opportunities continually, but he never seemed to see them.  That day in the jungle I was desperate at his indifference, and I drove the horses away when he wasn’t looking.  I struck them with my crop—­and I actually threw myself at him as boldly as I could, regardless of consequences.  But he was like ice; he was speaking of you when you came.  It has always been the same.  When I discovered that he cared for that girl—­well, if you overheard you must know.  I frightened Garavel into dismissing him, and I set out to break him, just to show him that he needed me.  To-night I offered to divorce you and make him all and more than I’ve made you, but he scorned me.  That’s the truth, Stephen.  If we believed in oaths, I would swear it.”