Er... [ that last part had just sort of slipped out unbidden - as he'd admitted himself, he didn't know what to say in reply to her story - and now he'd gone and put himself on the spot. Anyone would ask about it, after a lead like that...

Well, she'd gone and told him what she'd done. Maybe it was time for him to own up to this. It wasn't that he'd believed he'd acted wrongly at that time; in fact, he doesn't think there was anything else he could have done. But it didn't change what happened then. ]

... If I tell you, you have to promise to keep it between you and me, all right? It's a very personal matter.