"I might have guessed.

I have loved too." She knew that here, at least, she could not feign and she could not control her voice, but with supreme judgment of the effect she allowed herself to be carried beyond all reserve.

In the one short sentence her whole passion expressed itself, genuine, deep, strong, ruthless.

She let the words come as they would, and Beatrice was startled by the passionate cry that burst from the heart, so wholly unrestrained.
For a long time neither spoke again, and neither looked at the other.
To all appearances Beatrice was the first to regain her self-possession.
And then, all at once the words came to her lips which could be restrained no longer.

For years she had kept silence, for there had been no one to whom she could speak.