Her voice was low and tense, and at no time during her recital did she raise it above the level at which she started.

Plainly, she was under a severe strain and was afraid that she might lose control of herself.
It appeared that Mr.Thorpe had put her to the supreme test.

In brief, he had called upon his young wife to put him out of his misery! Cunningly, he had beset her with the most amazing temptations.

Her story was one of those incredible things that one cannot believe because the mind refuses to entertain the utterly revolting.

In the beginning the old man, consumed by pain, implored her to perform a simple act of mercy.