The second time report had coupled her name with a Gabriel Lombardi, a
great baritone with whom she was appearing. When he arrived, as soon as
they were alone, he swung her about in his arms and cried in a strangled
voice:
"Swear to me that you have been faithful."
"I swear."
"Gabriel Lombardi"?
"I can't abide him".
"Ah, if I had never told you to lie to me--fool that I was."
Then she said calmly, with that deep conviction which always moved him:
"Ben, when you asked me that, I told you I would never lie. I have told
you the truth. No man has ever had the pressure of my fingers, and no
man ever will."
So intense had been his emotion that he had almost a paroxysm. When he
opened his eyes he found her face wet with tears.
"Ah, Madeleine," he said, "I am brutal with you. I cannot help it."
"I would not have you love me differently," she said gently, and through
her tears he seemed to see a faint, elusive smile, that was gone quickly
if it was ever there at all.
Another time, he said to himself: "No, I will say nothing.
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