So it was no
wonder his heart was filled with bitterness toward her. Jane and I had
remained near the door, and poor Mary was a pitiable princess,
standing there so full of doubt in the middle of the room. After a
moment she stepped toward the window, and, with quick-coming breath,
stopped at the threshold of the little passage.
"Master Brandon, I have come, not to make excuses, for nothing can
excuse me, but to tell you how it all happened--by trusting to
another."
Brandon arose, and marking the place in his book with his finger,
followed Mary, who had stepped backward into the room.
"Your highness is very gracious and kind thus to honor me, but as our
ways will hereafter lie as far apart as the world is broad, I think it
would have been far better had you refrained from so imprudent a
visit; especially as anything one so exalted as yourself may have to
say can be no affair of such as I--one just free of the hangman's
noose."
"Oh! don't! I pray you. Let me tell you, and it may make a difference.
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