"I have the faults of my kind. I
cannot pretend that any such scruple as you suggest would have
weighed with me. But can you - if you are capable of any detached
judgment - blame me very much for that?"
"All things considered, monsieur, I am rapidly being forced to the
conclusion that it is impossible to blame any man for anything in
this world; that we are all of us the sport of destiny. Consider,
monsieur, this gathering - this family gathering - here to-night,
whilst out there... O my God, let us make an end! Let us go our
ways and write 'finis' to this horrible chapter of our lives."
M. le La Tour considered him gravely, sadly, in silence for a moment.
"Perhaps it is best," he said, at length, in a small voice. He
turned to Mme. de Plougastel. "If a wrong I have to admit in my
life, a wrong that I must bitterly regret, it is the wrong that I
have done to you, my dear... "
"Not now, Gervais! Not now!" she faltered, interrupting him.
"Now - for the first and the last time. I am going. It is not
likely that we shall ever meet again - that I shall ever see any
of you again - you who should have been the nearest and dearest to
me.
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