His father threw it into his face during their interview."
"Well, when his own father acknowledged the disgrace, surely--"
"He is a sadly injured, deeply embittered man, and could have no
unbiased judgment; but you, Hartmut's friend, who stood so near him,
should shield him from such an imputation!"
Egon looked with astonishment at the excited woman.
"That evidently seems an easy matter to you," he said slowly. "I could
not do it. There was too much to condemn in Hartmut's life; he told me
much himself that had seemed mysterious before, and I can find no
excuse, no extenuating circumstances for his actions. Even his
denunciation of--"
"Of his mother! She was the sword which hung over his head. It was she
who destroyed her son! But he knew nothing of the shameful depths to
which she had sunk; he lived with her but she concealed her life from
him. I saw it, I knew it when his father hurled the dreadful accusation
at him; he was as one struck by lightning. There was truth in the man's
despairing cry. Whatever his youthful misdemeanors, his punishment in
that hour balanced them all. His flight, his broken promise, have robbed
him of a father, and of his dearest friend; but though they turn against
him I will believe in him. Yes, to the death! Their charge is untrue, he
is an innocent man.
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