'Don't you see that it has left its mark on me for life ?' 'I thought I knew something of women by this time,' Henry said, appealing privately to Lady Montbarry for consolation.

'But Agnes completely puzzles me.

It is a year since Montbarry's death; and she remains as devoted to his memory as if he had died faithful to her--she still feels the loss of him, as none of us feel it!' 'She is the truest woman that ever breathed the breath of life,' Lady Montbarry answered.

'Remember that, and you will understand her.

Can such a woman as Agnes give her love or refuse it, according to circumstances?
Because the man was unworthy of her, was he less the man of her choice?
The truest and best friend to him (little as he deserved it) in his lifetime, she naturally remains the truest and best friend to his memory now.