`` Married ! '' Gilbert sat down suddenly on a chair and looked at Alma in bewilderment . `` She has been married for a year , '' said Alma steadily . `` She married Charlie Moore of East Exeter , and has been living there ever since . '' `` Then , '' said Gilbert , laying hold of the one solid fact that loomed out of the mist of his confused understanding , `` why did she keep on writing letters to me after she was married ? '' `` She never wrote to you at all . It was I that wrote the letters . '' Gilbert looked at Alma doubtfully . Was she crazy ? There was something odd about her , now that he noticed , as she stood rigidly there , with that queer red spot on her face , a strange fire in her eyes , and that weird reflection from the maple enveloping her like an immaterial flame . `` I do n't understand , '' he said helplessly . Still standing there , Alma told the whole story , giving full explanations , but no excuses . She told it clearly and simply , for she had often pictured this scene to herself and thought out what she must say . Her memory worked automatically , and her tongue obeyed it promptly . To herself she seemed like a machine , talking mechanically , while her soul stood on one side and listened . When she had finished there was a silence lasting perhaps ten seconds . To Alma it seemed like hours . Would Gilbert overwhelm her with angry reproaches , or would he simply rise up and leave her in unutterable contempt ? It was the most tragic moment of her life , and her whole personality was strung up to meet it and withstand it . `` Well , they were good letters , anyhow , '' said Gilbert finally ; `` interesting letters , '' he added , as if by way of a meditative afterthought .
It was so anti-climactic that XXXXX broke into an hysterical giggle , cut short by a sob .
Alma Exeter Gilbert afterthought fire hours machine scene seconds year