Promptly at 9 o'clock Alfonso was ushered into Fredrika's parlor. For a
second, Christine stood fixed and pale, for Alfonso it really was, and
she had believed him dead; then extending her hand she gave him greeting.
For a full hour Alfonso and Christine talked, each telling much of what
had transpired in the intervening years. Alfonso said he was quite as
much surprised to find that she was still unmarried, as she seemed
surprised that he was still alive.
"Alfonso, I have waited long for you," Christine replied.
"Ah, yes, Christine, but have you been true all these years?"
As Alfonso spoke these words, he sat with Christine's hand in his own,
looking inquiringly into her blue eyes for her answer. Her face flushed
and she was speechless.
Alfonso, dropping her hand, said in a kindly voice, "For years I have
kept pure and sought to be worthy of you, and fortune has smiled upon me;
I could now match gold with gold, but when I demand purity for purity
your silence and your blushes condemn you, and I must bid you a final
farewell."
Christine could not answer, and as Alfonso left the house, she fell
weeping upon the sofa, where her sister Fredrika found her, long past
midnight.
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