"
"My dear Roderick," said Rowland with an eloquent smile, "I can help you
no more!"
Roderick frowned, hesitated a moment, and then took his hat. "Oh, well,"
he said, "I am not so afraid of her as all that!" And he turned, as if
to depart.
"Stop!" cried Rowland, as he laid his hand on the door.
Roderick paused and stood waiting, with his irritated brow.
"Come back; sit down there and listen to me. Of anything you were to say
in your present state of mind you would live most bitterly to repent.
You don't know what you really think; you don't know what you really
feel. You don't know your own mind; you don't do justice to Miss
Garland. All this is impossible here, under these circumstances. You 're
blind, you 're deaf, you 're under a spell. To break it, you must leave
Rome."
"Leave Rome! Rome was never so dear to me."
"That 's not of the smallest consequence. Leave it instantly."
"And where shall I go?"
"Go to some place where you may be alone with your mother and Miss
Garland."
"Alone? You will not come?"
"Oh, if you desire it, I will come."
Roderick inclining his head a little, looked at his friend askance.
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