t's not her first theft'; ... and it's
true--it's the tenth, ... perhaps it's the twentieth.... It's true--I
am a thief." She paused, and the glow deepened in her eyes. "But
there's one thing you must believe--you shall believe; since you came,
since I've known you, since the first day you set eyes on me, I have
stolen no more ... till yesterday when you gave her the pendant before
me. I could not bear it ... I could not." She paused and looked at him
with eyes that demanded an assent.

"I believe you," said the Duke gravely.

She heaved a deep sigh of relief, and went on more quietly--some of its
golden tone had returned to her voice: "And then, if you knew how it
began ... the horror of it," she said.

"Poor child!" said the Duke softly.

"Yes, you pity me, but you despise me--you despise me beyond words. You
shall not! I will not have it!" she cried fiercely.

"Believe me, no," said the Duke, in a soothing tone.

"Listen," said Sonia. "Have you ever been alone--alone in the world?
... Have you ever been hungry? Think of it ... in this big city where I
was starving in sight of bread ... bread in the shops .... One only had
to stretch out one's hand to touch it ... a penny loaf. Oh, it's
commonplace!" she broke off: "quite commonplace!"

"Go on: tell me," said the Duke curtly.

"There was one way I could make money and I would not do it: no, I
would not," she went on. "But that day I was dying ... understand, I
was dying ....I went to the rooms of a man I knew a little. It was my
last resource. At first I was glad ... he gave me food and wine ... and
then, he talked to me ... he offered me money."

"What!" cried the Duke; and a sudden flame of anger flared up in his
eyes.

"No; I could not ... and then I robbed him.... I preferred to ... it
was more decent. Ah, I had excuses then. I began to steal to remain an
honest woman ... and I've gone on stealing to keep up appearances. You
see ... I joke about it." And she laughed, the faint, dreadful, mocking
laugh of a damned soul. "Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" she cried; and, burying
her face in her hands, she burst into a storm of weeping.

"Poor child," said the Duke softly. And he stared gloomily on the
ground, overcome by this revelation of the tortures of the feeble in
the underworld beneath the Paris he knew.

"Oh, you do pity me ... you do understand ... and feel," said Sonia,
between her sobs.

The Duke raised his head and gazed at her with eyes full of an inf