I did not love the man I found you out to be.
"I could not marry a man I did not love.

Therefore, I sent you away.
There was no question then of giving you, or not giving you, a chance to prove yourself worthy.

I was not concerned just then with what you might eventually prove yourself.

I did not love you; therefore, I could not wed you.

Though, as a side issue, it is only fair to point out--if you wish to stand upon your possible merits--that this letter, written four years later, confirms my then estimate of your true character.
"Aubrey, I cannot discuss my husband with you; nor can I bring myself to allude to the subject of my relations with him, or his with me.
"To defend him to you would be to degrade him in all honest eyes.
"To enlarge upon my love for him, would be like pouring crystal water into a stagnant polluted pool, in order to prove how pure was the fountain from which that water flowed.