"I am a scoundrel," said Hans, overcome by this misplaced trust. "That is my invention. Nobody knows that she did that. Shall you forgive me for not saying so before?"
"Oh, yes," said Mirah, after a momentary pause of surprise. "You knew it was what she would be sure to do--a Jewess who had not been faithful--who had done what she did and was penitent. She could have no joy but to afflict herself; and where else would she go? I think it is very beautiful that you should enter so into what a Jewess would feel."
"The Jewesses of that time sat on ruins," said Hans, starting up with a sense of being checkmated. "That makes them convenient for pictures."

"I am a scoundrel," said Hans. "That is my invention. Nobody knows that she did that. Shall you forgive me for not saying so before?"
"Oh, yes," said Mirah, in surprise. "You knew it was what she would be sure to do - a Jewess who had not been faithful - who was penitent. I think it is very beautiful that you should enter so into what a Jewess would feel."
With a sense of being checkmated