«You don›t blame me, Richard?» said she.
«I blame nobody,» said he.
«Indeed, I never meant to offend you, Richard,» she urged.
«Of course not; no, no; I never said so,» he interrupted, sarcastically; «what could you gain by that?»
«Oh! Richard, better feelings have governed me,» she said, in a melancholy and reproachful tone.
«Well, well, I suppose so,» he said; and after an interval, he added abstractedly, «This cannot, however, go on; no, no—it cannot. Sooner or later it must have come; better at once—better now.»
«What do you mean, Richard?» she said, greatly alarmed, she knew not why. «What are you resolving upon? Dear Richard, in mercy tell me. I implore of you, tell me.»
«Why, Gertrude, you seem to me to fancy that, because I don›t talk about what is passing, that I don›t see
