I only wish it had
taken place earlier."
"I know what you mean, Mr. Bathurst; the Doctor has told me about
that too. You may wish that you had remained in the boat, but it
was well for me that you did not. You would have lost your life
without benefiting me. I should be now in the well of Cawnpore, or
worse, at Bithoor."
"That may be," he said gravely, "but it does not alter the fact."
"I have no reason to know why you consider you should have stopped
in the boat, Mr. Bathurst," she went on quietly, but with a slight
flush on her cheek. "I can perhaps guess by what you afterwards
did for me, by the risks you ran to save me; but I cannot go by
guesses, I think I have a right to know."
"You are making me say what I did not mean to say," he exclaimed
passionately, "at least not now; but you do more than guess, you
know--you know that I love you."
"And what do you know?" she asked softly.
"I know that you ought not to love me." he said. "No woman should
love a coward."
"I quite agree with you, but then I know that you are not a coward."
"Not when I jumped over and left you alone? It was the act of a
cur."
"It was an act for which you were not really responsible. Had you
been able to think, you would not have done so. I do not take the
view the Doctor does, and I agree with you that a man loving a
woman should first of all think of her and of her safety. So you
thought when you could think, but you were no more responsible for
your action than a madman for a murder committed when in a state
of frenzy.
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