And yet, he did not think he was telling an untruth, when he finally broke the silence to say to her whom he had so long deceived: "You have avenged yourself with much severity, Maud, but you had the right....

I do not know who has informed you of an error which was very culpable, very wrong, very unfortunate, too....

I know that I have in Rome enemies bent upon my ruin, and I am sure they have left me no means of defending myself.

I have deceived you, and I have suffered." He paused after those words, uttered with a tremor of conviction which was not assumed.

He had forgotten that ten minutes before he had entered the room with the firm determination to hide his duel and its cause from the woman for whose pardon he would at that moment have sacrificed his life without hesitation.