He looked perplexed. "But if she has so absolutely failed, what then had she done?"
"She has suffered—she has done that." And the Princess added: "She has loved—and she has lost."
Mr. Verver, however, still wondered. "But how many times."
Maggie hesitated, but it cleared up. "Once is enough. Enough, that is, for one to be kind to her."
Her father listened, yet not challenging—only as with a need of some basis on which, under these new lights, his bounty could be firm. "But has she told you nothing?"
"Ah, thank goodness, no!"
He stared. "Then don't young women tell?"
"Because, you mean, it's just what they're supposed to do?" She looked at him, flushed again now; with which, after another hesitation, "Do young men tell?" she asked.
He gave a short laugh. "How do I know, my dear, wha
