“For the same reason that I should not ask you what you accomplished when you punished your mother, or what she accomplished when she killed your father. It’s kind to ask people only their intentions; if we saw the true meaning of what we have done, perhaps we couldn’t survive.”

“You confuse me terribly—you can’t know how terribly!”

“Yes, I can,” said Helen. “I did it deliberately. You came here thinking me a bad woman, and yourself something of a martyr to duty. You were right about yourself; you are a martyr to what you thought was your duty. So was your mother. But after what I have said, you are not so sure. You probably continue to think me bad, but you see that it might not be so easy to prove, if we came to an argument about it. About my own conduct, Orestes, I have long been confused. But I won’t hang my head over anything I’ve done. I’ll take what retribution life has for me; if it has none, I’ll be thankful that what I did isn’t so bad as I feared.”

“That’s a terribly dangerous doctrine,” said Orestes.

“I’m not trying to convert you to it,” said Helen. “I merely wanted to explain myself, and perhaps to comfort you a little. Some of the wrong we do is crime, and some error; our mistakes ought to be less tragic than our sins, but it often turns out the other way. You, I think, have made some terrible mistakes, but that won’t interfere with our friendship. Of course I do hope you won’t repeat them.”

“What you say sounds kind and I’m grateful for it, but it still seems immoral,” said Orestes.

“Perhaps it is,” said Helen. “It’s the best I can do. At any rate, there are no hard feelings between us?”

“I don’t approve of your visit to Troy, and all that,” said Orestes, “but that’s past.”

“I’m afraid it is,” said Helen,

“That doesn’t sound like repentance,” said Orestes.

“I hope it doesn’t,” said Helen.

“Menelaus may have some hard feelings toward me, if you haven’t,” said Orestes. “Queer I didn’t think of that before! It’s no use for us to be reconciled, if he continues vindictive.”

“He’s not vindictive,” said Helen. “He’s all for punishing the wicked. The two things may look the same, but they’re not. At present he wouldn’t even speak to you, but in time he’ll come round. He rather admires you—you were his favourite suitor for Hermione, from the first.”

“Hermione told me so. She thought her father was very much on her side, but lately she has felt that he—well, she said he betrayed her.”