Besides, the story was of no
interest save to him and me; and above all, as I said, it was his
secret and not mine."
"I see that now," she said. "Still, I am so sorry, so very sorry,
that I did not know it before.
"You see, Frank," she went on, after a pause; "we women have to
make or unmake our lives very much in the dark. No one helps us,
and if we have not a brother to do so, we are groping in the dark.
Look at me. Here was I, believing that Mr. Carthew, whom I met
everywhere in society, was, except that he kept race horses and bet
heavily, as good as other men. He was very pleasant, very good
looking, generally liked, and infinitely more amusing than most men
one meets. How was I to tell what he really was?
"On the other hand, there were you, my dear friend, who, I knew,
had shown yourself a very brave soldier, and whom also everyone
liked and spoke well of, but of whose real character I did not know
much, except on the side that was always presented to me; and now I
find you capable of what I consider a grand act of generosity."
"You overrate the matter altogether, Bertha. The man shot me by
mistake. The fellow he took me for richly deserved shooting.
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