So I won her love, took all that she had
to give, and returned nothing.
"In the course of years she married the son of the American Consul
at Vienna. I was obliged, by the bye, to fight her brother, and he
carried his enmity to me through life. I saw her sometimes in the
course of years. She was always beautiful, always surrounded by a
host of admirers, always cold. When the end of my great plans here
came, and I myself was a fugitive, her brother found me out. He
gave me a letter to deliver in America. I delivered it--to his
sister.
"She was as beautiful as ever, and alone in the world. It seemed
to me that I realised then how great my folly had been. For always
I had loved her, always there had been that jealously locked little
chamber in my life. Helene, she pointed no finger of scorn to my
broken life. She uttered no reproaches. She took me as I was, and
for three years our life together has been to me one long unbroken
harmony. Our tastes were very similar. She was well read,
receptive, a charming companion. Ennui was a word of which I have
forgotten the meaning. And it seemed so with her, too, for she
grew younger and more beautiful."
"And why is she not with you?" Helene cried. "I must go and see
her. How delightful it sounds!"
"One day, about three months ago," Mr.
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