Do you believe she is dead ?' 'Yes, I do,' was Frank's decided answer.

You have never told me who she was, though I have my own opinion on the subject, and I know that you loved her very much, and if she loved you so much--' 'She did--she did; she loved me more--far more than I deserved,' was Arthur's vehement interruption.
'Well, then,' Frank continued, 'if she did, and were living, she would have come to you, or answered your letters, or sent you some messenger.' Frank's voice trembled here, and be seemed to see again the cold, still face of the dead woman, whose lips, could they have spoken, might have unlocked the mystery and brought a message from Gretchen' 'True, true,' Arthur replied.

'She would have come or written.

How long is it since I came home ?' 'Four years next October,' Frank said.
'Four years;' Arthur went on, 'is it so long as that?
And it, was then more than three years since I had seen her.

Everything was blotted out from my mind from the time that I entered that accursed _maison de sante_ until I found myself in Paris.