Hearing those words from her, Herman Hawthorne realized for the first time just how much she had suffered.
He turned to the side. "Whatever happens to her, I won't get involved again."
Zoe Ellsworth suddenly laughed. "You're not getting any younger yourself—almost thirty. I may not be able to spend the rest of my life with you in such a formal, loveless marriage, but I'm sure plenty of women would be willing to."
He fell silent.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be going."
She reached for the door handle, but he stopped her.
"If... if one day I fell in love with you, would you come back to me?"
"Don't ask such hypotheticals. People change. Maybe by the time that day comes, I'll have already fallen in love with someone else. Besides, I'm young; I won't have any trouble finding a man. Remember this: I, Zoe Ellsworth, can have nothing, but I will never be without pride. I will not marry a man who doesn't love me twice. Absolutely not."
"Last night... you and that man—"
