forgiveness, she absolutely
refused all advances, and declared that she would never consent willingly
to look upon his face or listen to his voice again. The proud old woman,
whose ideals had been wrecked so cruelly, could not but feel a profound
contempt for a man who had thus deliberately lied to her at the very time
when she was appealing to his confidence. Her aristocratic instincts arose
in indignation at the falsehoods which had been used to dupe her. She
would not listen to any excuse, would not admit any extenuating
circumstances; and perhaps because she knew in the secret of her heart
that she would never be able to resist the pleadings of the man who had
thus deceived her, she absolutely refused to see him.

Rhodes never despaired of being restored to her favour, and would have
given much to anyone able to induce her to relent in her judgment as to
his conduct. Up to the last he made attempts to persuade her to reconsider
her decision, but they all proved useless, and he died without having been
able to win a forgiveness which he craved for many years.

I used to know Mrs. van Koopman well and to see her often. I admired her
much, not only on account of her great talents and of her powerful
intellect, but also for the great dignity which she displayed all through
the Boer War, when, suspected of favouring the Dutch cause to the extent
of holding communications with the rebels all over the Cape Colony, she
never committed any indiscretion or gave cause for any direct action
against her. For some time, by order of the military authorities, she was
placed under police supervision, and her house was searched for papers and
documents which, however, were not found--as might have been foreseen.

All through these trying months she never wavered in her attitude nor in
her usual mode of life, except that she saw fewer people than
formerly--not, as she used playfully to say, because she feared to be
compromised, but because she did not wish to compromise others. More than
once during my visits I spoke to her of Mr. Rhodes and tried to induce her
to relent in her resolution. I even went so far as to tell her that her
consent to meet him would, more than anything else, cause him to use all
his influence, or what remained of it, in favour of a prompt settlement of
the war in a peace honourable to both sides. Mrs. van Koopman smiled, but
remained immovable. At last, seeing that I would not abandon the subject,
she told m