48211    The flush had faded in an instant, and a deathly face was before me.

48212    Her dry lips could not speak the 'No' which I saw father than heard.

48213    'Surely your memory deceives you,' said I.

48214    'I could even quote a passage of your letter.

48215    It ran "Please, please, as you are a gentleman, burn this letter, and be at the gate by ten o'clock."'

48216    I thought that she had fainted, but she recovered herself by a supreme effort.

48217    'Is there no such thing as a gentleman?' she gasped.

48218    'You do Sir Charles an injustice.

48219    He did burn the letter.

48220    But sometimes a letter may be legible even when burned.

48221    You acknowledge now that you wrote it?'

48222    'Yes, I did write it,' she cried, pouring out her soul in a torrent of words.

48223    'I did write it.

48224    Why should I deny it?

48225    I have no reason to be ashamed of it.