He waited for an answer to his question and after a long pause Ilitta said,
“I – don’t – want to – tell you!”
“Why not?”
“Because – ”
Her voice died away and he knew that she was feeling it was impossible to tell him what he wanted to know.
Instead she turned towards him to say pleadingly,
“Please – go away – and forget me – you were so kind – so very kind – but I don’t – belong to your world – and you have women like the Comtesse to amuse you – I am only somebody who – came into your life in the fog.”
“Do you really think that what happened that night at the inn,” the Duke asked in his deep voice, “and the night we were together in the attic and our escape from either being starved to death or forced to surrender ignominiously is something that either of us can ever forget?”
“You
