Versed in her every expression, I could not mistake the language of her dismayed soul, at this, the most critical instant of her life.

She had hoped to find me absent; she was overwhelmed to find me there.

Could she, with a look, have transported me a thousand miles from this scene of personal humiliation and unknown, unimaginable outcome, she would have bestowed that look and ignored the consequences.
Nor was I behind her in the reckless passion of the moment.

Could I, by means of a wish, have been transported those thousand miles, I should even now have been far from a spot where, in the face of a curious crowd, busy in associating us together, I must submit to the terror of hearing her speak and betray herself to these watchful lawyers, and to the just and impartial mind of the presiding judge.
But the days of magic had passed.

I could not escape the spot; I could not escape her eye.