Hetta knew also that he was a man of high honour and a noble courage.  In such a condition as was hers now he was the very friend whose advice she could have asked,—­ had he not been the very lover who was desirous of making her his wife.  Hetta felt that she could sacrifice much for her mother.  Money, if she had it, she could have given, though she left herself penniless.  Her time, her inclinations, her very heart’s treasure, and, as she thought, her life, she could give.  She could doom herself to poverty, and loneliness, and heart-rending regrets for her mother’s sake.  But she did not know how she could give herself into the arms of a man she did not love.

‘I don’t know what there is to explain...